


Naruto (And Also Nanashi)

by NanashiKitsune



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Major Original Character(s), Multi, Original Character-centric, characters may or may not be out of character when interacting with OC, this is literally just the naruto series with my OCs thrown in, though i try real hard not to do that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-24 07:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9711836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanashiKitsune/pseuds/NanashiKitsune
Summary: The story of my original character, Nanashi Yamamoto, and her adventures in the Naruto series. Gaara x OC(Cross-posted on Fanfiction, DeviantArt, and Tumblr.)





	1. OC Profiles

**Author's Note:**

> All of the characters' profile photos were made using the Mega Anime Avatar Creator on http://www.rinmarugames.com/
> 
> Reviews are always appreciated, and constructive criticism is always welcome! If you think someone is too out of character when interacting with Nanashi, please let me know ^^

****

**Nanashi Yamamoto**

Hair Color: Black

Hairstyle: Varies - Usually down, stopping at her lower back. Sometimes up in a ponytail or pigtails. Her fringe covers her right eye.

Eye Color: Purple

Age: 12

Birthday: November 25th

Height: 5'0" (152.4 cm)

Weight: 79.2 lbs (35.9 kg)

Blood Type: O

Affiliation: Konoha

Rank: Genin

Team: Team 9

Team Leader: Koukatsu Yamamoto

Teammates: Reiko Sugimori and Emiko Sugimori

Family: Koukatsu (father), Shinji (older brother), Ankoku †(mother)

Chakra Nature: Fire

Appearance: The spitting image of her late mother (with her father's personality). She wears a long-sleeved, zip-up, gray shirt, black pants, black shinobi shoes, and a black forehead protector around her waist - the plate rests on her right hip. Wears a black hoodie when not on missions.

Personality: Very excitable, very clumsy, protective of her friends, and afraid of nothing (would probably befriend an Akatsuki member if anyone gave her the chance). She's very formal with her elders, until she knows what she can get away with, and she sees all of the Jonin sensei as her aunts and uncles - she's especially close with Kakashi.

Back Story: When Nanashi was born, her mother died due to complications from the birth. Her older brother, Shinji, resented her for it for several years until she finally got fed up with it, telling him that it wasn't fair for him to blame her for something she had no control of. Her father raised her to decide for herself whether a person was good or bad, and because of that, she befriends anyone who lets her. Due to the fact that her brother hated her for the first eight or nine years of her life, she found a surrogate brother in Itachi Uchiha, and through him, she met her best friend, Sasuke.

Jutsu:  _Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu_ (taught by Sasuke) **[** **this will be updated as the story goes along]**

 

**Shinji Yamamoto**

Hair Color: Black

Hairstyle: Shaggy, stops just under his chin.

Eye Color: Gold

Age: 17

Birthday: October 31st

Height: 5'7" (173.7 cm)

Weight: 120 lbs (54.4 kg)

Blood Type: O

Affiliation: Konoha

Rank: Chunin

Occupation: Hokage's Assistant

Teammates: Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane

Family: Koukatsu (father), Nanashi (younger sister), Ankoku † (mother)

Chakra Nature: Fire, Lightning

Appearance: Long-sleeved black shirt, black pants, black shinobi sandals, a gray bandanna around his neck, and a black forehead protector.

Personality: He's reserved when he doesn't know the person/people he's talking to, or if they're a higher rank than he is, but he's loud and excitable when around Izumo and Kotetsu.

Jutsu:  _Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu_ ,  _Suisei_ , _Lightning Style: Lightning Spear_ ,  _Lightning Style: Shockwave_ ,  _Lightning Style: Striking Thunder_ **[** **this will be updated as the story goes along]**

 

 

**Reiko Sugimori**

Hair Color: Dark Pink

Hairstyle: Shoulder-length, slightly curled at the tips. Her fringe curls to the left.

Eye Color: Dark Pink

Age: 12

Birthday: February 14th

Height: 5'1" (152.4 cm)

Weight: 75 lbs (34 kg)

Blood Type: A

Affiliation: Konoha

Rank: Genin

Team: Team 9

Team Leader: Koukatsu Yamamoto

Teammates: Emiko Sugimori and Nanashi Yamamoto

Family: Emiko (twin sister), Ryuu (father), Maaya (mother), and Akira (younger sister)

Chakra Nature: Earth

Appearance: A short-sleeved goldenrod-colored shirt, white pants, white shinobi sandals, and a white forehead protector around her neck.

Personality: Outgoing, loud, friendly

Jutsu:  _Earth Style: Mud Bomb Jutsu_ ,  _Earth Style: Tunneling Jutsu_ ,  _Earth Style: Rock Wave_ ,  _Faultline_ ,  _Diamond Strike_ **[** ** **this will be updated as the story goes along]****

 

 

**Emiko Sugimori**

Hair Color: Dark Teal

Hairstyle: Mid-back length, in low, braided pigtails. Her fringe curls to the right.

Eye Color: Dark Teal

Age: 12

Birthday: February 14th

Height: 5'1" (152.4 cm)

Weight: 75 lbs (34 kg)

Blood Type: A

Affiliation: Konoha

Rank: Genin

Team: Team 9

Team Leader: Koukatsu Yamamoto

Teammates: Reiko Sugimori and Nanashi Yamamoto

Family: Reiko (twin sister), Ryuu (father), Maaya (mother), and Akira (younger sister)

Chakra Nature: Earth

Appearance: A light gray tank top, black pants, black shinobi sandals, and a gray forehead protector.

Personality: Quiet, calm, unintimidating

Fun Fact: She's an incredible pick-pocket.

Jutsu:  _Earth Style: Mud Bomb Jutsu_ ,  _Earth Style: Tunneling Jutsu_ ,  _Earth Style: Rock Wave_ ,  _Mirage Jutsu_ ,  _Calm Mind Jutsu_ **[** **this will be updated as the story goes along]**

 

 

**Koukatsu Yamamoto**

Hair Color: Dark Orange

Hairstyle: Shoulder-length, shaggy, sometimes pulled into a low ponytail

Eye Color: Gold

Age: 36

Birthday: July 30th

Height: 6'4" (195.1 cm)

Weight: 153 lbs (69.4 kg)

Blood Type: O

Affiliation: Konoha

Rank: Jonin

Team: Team 9

Students: Nanashi Yamamoto, Reiko Sugimori, and Emiko Sugimori

Family: Ankoku †(wife), Shinji (son), Nanashi (daughter)

Chakra Nature: Fire, Lightning, Earth

Appearance: Wears a tan tank top, a dark brown jacket, black pants, black shinobi sandals, and a dark brown forehead protector. He has a scar across the right side of his mouth.

Personality: Loud and very friendly. Very protective of Nanashi.

Jutsu:  _Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu_ ,  _Fire Style: Dragon Fang Jutsu_ ,  _Fire Style: Dragon Bomb Jutsu_ ,  _Suisei_ , _Lightning Style: Lightning Spear_ ,  _Lightning Style: Shockwave_ ,  _Earth Style: Fissure Jutsu_ ,  _Earth Style: Mudwave Jutsu_ ,  _Earth Style: Mud Wall Jutsu, Chidori_


	2. Enter: Naruto Uzumaki! (And Nanashi Yamamoto)

“I’m at the end of my rope, Naruto. You failed the graduation test last time, and the time before that. Tomorrow you’ve got another chance, and you’re messing up again!” Nanashi lifted her head from her desk, wiping a bit of drool from her chin as she heard Iruka-sensei yelling. Again. “Fine! Because you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the Transformation Jutsu!” The dark haired girl groaned with the rest of the class, slowly trudging over to get in line next to Sasuke.

“Alright, Sakura here, let’s do it,” the pink-haired girl said, stepping forward. “Transform!” In a poof of smoke, another Iruka stood in front of everyone. As Iruka recorded the results, she turned back to the others, “Yes! I did it! Sasuke, did you see that?”

Nanashi flashed Sasuke a crooked grin as Sakura got back in line, “Yeah, Sassy, you _were_ paying attention, weren’t you?” Her friend just rolled his eyes, stepping up when Iruka called his name.

Iruka glanced up from his clipboard, “Uh… Good.” With another poof, Sasuke transformed back and walked off. “Next! Naruto Uzumaki!”

Shikamaru glared at the blond, “This is a total waste of time, Naruto…”

“We always pay for your screw up!” Ino chimed in, hands on her hips.

Naruto grumbled under his breath as he stepped forward, “Like I care…”

Nanashi gave the boy a sympathetic smile as he prepared to transform, only to burst out laughing as he suddenly transformed into a naked woman. Iruka’s eyes widened, “Huh?!” He was sent flying back as blood shot out of his nose. As soon as he recovered, he started screaming at Naruto, “Cut the stupid tricks! This is your last warning!”

* * *

“This sucks. Loser…” Naruto muttered under his breath as he got to work, cleaning the stone faces he’d desecrated earlier that day.

Iruka sat farther up on the mountain, his arms crossed, “You’re not going home until you’ve cleaned up every drop of paint!”

Naruto stopped scrubbing, turning his attention to Iruka, “So what? It’s not like there’s anyone waiting at home for me…” He turned back to continue scrubbing, only to find Nanashi standing beside him, sponge in hand. “What the—When did you get up here?”

Nanashi grinned, shrugging, “Just now! I saw you up here, and I thought I could help. Y’know, move the pace faster.”

Iruka smiled softly, watching the scene for a moment before calling out to the two students, “Naruto! Nanashi!”

Naruto looked up, pouting, “What do you want _now_ , Sensei?”

“Well, I was just thinking. Maybe after you clean this all up, I can take you out for some ramen. The good stuff! What do you think?”

A huge grin crossed both of their faces, and Nanashi nodded excitedly. Naruto turned to Nanashi, “Now that’s some serious motivation! We’ll have this cleaned in no time!”

* * *

“Naruto?”

“Hmm?” Naruto barely managed a reply, his mouth full of noodles.

“…Why would you do that to the Hokage faces? I mean, you know who the Hokage are, don’t you?” Iruka questioned.

Nanashi shook her head slightly, _‘Here we go…’_ She shoveled ramen into her mouth, trying to keep her mouth shut during the conversation.

“’Course I do!” He quickly slurped the rest of his ramen broth before finishing, “Everybody knows! They were the greatest shinobi of their time, right? The best of the best – Undefeated ninja champs.” He looked up, as if picturing something, “And the fourth Hokage’s the one that saved the village from the Nine-Tailed Fox. He was the most amazing!”

Iruka frowned, arching a brow in confusion, “Then why did you...”

“’Cause I’m going to be greater than any of them! Me. Naruto. The next Hokage!” He pointed his chopsticks at Iruka dramatically, “A ninja legend!” Nanashi applauded him, still trying to swallow the noodles she had stuffed in her mouth, “Then everyone will have to stop disrespecting me. Believe it!” He paused, suddenly turning sheepish. “…Uhh… By the way… I kinda wanted to ask a little favor, Sensei…”

“…You want another bowl?”

Naruto shook his head, “Nuh-uh. I... Wanna try on your headband.” Nanashi stifled a laugh as her friend put his hands together, bowing politely, “C’mon, pleeeaaase!”

Iruka looked up at his headband, “Uh… Oh, this? No way. You can only wear the Leaf Headband when you finally graduate from the academy and become a Ninja. You’ve gotta pass the test tomorrow.”

“That is so uncool!” Naruto pouted, crossing his arms.

Nanashi giggled, “So’s that why you took off your goggles, Noodle Boy?”

Iruka laughed loudly as Naruto turned red from embarrassment, yelling, “S-So what if it was?! I want another bowl!”

* * *

Iruka stood at the front of the classroom, clipboard in hand. “We will now start the final exam. When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on… the Clone Jutsu.”

* * *

“Nanashi. It’s your turn, get up already,” Nanashi opened her eyes, only to see Sasuke standing in front of her, arms crossed. “If you don’t go, you’re going to be failed, you know.”

She sighed, standing up from her desk, “Yeah, yeah, I’m goin’ Sassy. Keep your pants on.” She ignored the glare he was giving her, making her way to the testing room.

* * *

Nanashi bounced happily next to Sasuke as she secured her new headband around her waist. She adjusted it so that the plate sat on her right hip, “Look, Sassy, we did it!”

“…Yeah.”

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes, “Wow, don’t sound so excited…”

A new voice sounded from behind her as her father and brother arrived to congratulate her, “Look, Dad, we now have a convenient handle for when she gets into trouble!” She turned to face them, just missing the glare Koukatsu had sent a few women that were gossiping about Naruto.

Nanashi pouted, but that was quickly erased with her father’s words, “Why don’t we all go out to celebrate? You too, Sasuke! And Naruto can come if he wants to!”

As Sasuke nodded in agreement, Nanashi started looking around, “I’ll go get hi—Where’d he go? He was just over at the swings…” She frowned, turning back to the guys. “Weird. I guess he went home…”

* * *

Nanashi sat in a booth at Yakiniku Q, wiggling and rubbing her hands together excitedly as she got ready to dig in. Sasuke sat next to her, a look of amusement on his face. “It still amazes me how excited you get over the smallest thing. Are you _ever_ calm?”

“When she’s sleeping,” Both men across the table responded in sync.

She just grinned, taking a piece of pork off of the barbecue in front of her. The guys followed suit, Koukatsu and Shinji both shoveling food into their mouths.

The meal was interrupted, though, when a messenger came up to Koukatsu, frantic. “Mr. Yamamoto, I’m sorry to interrupt your meal, but Lord Third needs you immediately!”

Koukatsu pouted, face stuffed as he tried to answer, “Mmmhkay, gimme a minute…” He stood up, placing the money on the table. “If you order anything else, Shinji, you pay for it.” He got a muffled ‘Yeah, yeah,’ in response. “Sasuke, you’re staying the night, right?”

Sasuke looked up, slightly surprised, “Oh, uh… Yeah, if that’s alright.”

Koukatsu flashed him a toothy grin, “Great! I’ll see you guys later!” With that, he was gone.

Shinji watched as his father ran out the door, “Wonder what that’s all about…” He shrugged, turning back to his food, “Oh well. More for me!”

* * *

Nanashi groaned as light suddenly flooded the room she was sleeping in. She opened one eye, rubbing the other as she looked for the person that woke her up. Her train of thought was broken when she felt something shift under her, and suddenly Sasuke’s voice was heard in the otherwise silent room. “I know you’re awake, now get off of me.” She opened the other eye, turning her head toward his voice.

She had fallen asleep on top of him, their bodies creating an ‘X’ on the floor of the living room. “Oh, mornin’, Sassy…”

“Do you have to do this every time I stay over..?”

The only reply he got was a tired “Hmm…” so he shoved the girl off of him. She sat up, pouting, as she turned toward the third occupant of the room. “…Dad? What’s goin’ on?”

Koukatsu grinned tiredly, “Oh, y’know. Little of this, little of that. Naruto’s a Genin now. Yaaay…” He fell to his knees, exhausted. “Oh, and Mizuki’s evil. Surprise!”

Both Genin sat up quickly, now fully awake. “What?!”

 


	3. Sasuke and Sakura: Friend or Foe?

Nanashi sat on top of Sasuke's desk, sighing impatiently as she waited for Iruka-Sensei to assign the new Genin their teams. Just as the two had started a staring contest, yelling could be heard down the hallway. The ground shook slightly as whoever was coming started running faster and faster. Nanashi and Sasuke's eyes widened, and Nanashi wordlessly slid over to put her feet on the empty chair beside his.

Just as her feet touched the chair, Sakura and Ino burst into the room, exclaiming, "I'm first!"

She tuned them out as they started bickering, only to be brought back when Naruto suddenly was sent flying from the chair on the other side of her. She looked up to see Sakura standing beside her, hands clasped at her chest, "G-Good morning, Sasuke!" Sasuke barely spared her a glance, but she still continued, "Mind if I sit next to you?"

Nanashi pouted, "What, am I invisible?"

Ino barged over suddenly, "Back off, Forehead! I'm sitting next to Sasuke!"

' _Taking that as a yes, then…'_

"I was here first!" Nanashi coughed once.

"I walked into the classroom before you did! Everybody saw it!"

"Dream on!"

Another girl approached them, causing more to start piling up behind them, "Actually! I was here before either of you!"

Nanashi sighed, turning to Sasuke, "Well… I tried. I'm getting away from this before it goes bad." She quickly moved to sit far enough away that she couldn't be caught in the crossfire, but close enough to still watch the chaos.

A growl suddenly came from Naruto, and before Nanashi could even blink, the blond was squatting on the desk in front of Sasuke. Sasuke's fangirls started yelling at Naruto as the two boys glared heatedly at each other.

Suddenly, the guy in front of Naruto leaned back, bumping into the orange-clad ninja. Nanashi pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, trying to fight back the loud laughter that threatened to escape. At Sakura's loud scream, though, she couldn't hold it anymore.

"Aww, Sassy, it's your first kiss!"

The two boys broke away from each other as quickly as they possibly could, gagging. Sasuke barely managed to choke out a "Shut the hell up, Nanashi!"

* * *

 

Iruka stood at the front of the class, hands behind his back as he smiled at the new Genin. "As of today, you are all ninjas. Together you've faced difficult trials and hardships. But, that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are all Genin, first level ninjas. All the Genin will be grouped into three-man squads. Each squad will be led by a Jonin. An elite ninja."

Nanashi fought to keep her eyes from rolling as Ino started to taunt Sakura, "Well, someone's gotta be in Sasuke's group. I wonder who?"

She snickered as Sasuke just let out a small, "Ugh…"

Iruka continued, "We want each squad to have a balance of strength and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads!" He ignored Nanashi as she moved to sit on her desk, facing the rest of the class so she could see what she knew would be mixed reactions from her friends.

"Squad Seven!" Nanashi zoned back in, hoping she hadn't missed anything important – especially if her name had already been called. "Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno," Naruto stood up and cheered, while Sakura hung her head. "And Sasuke Uchiha!" The positions switched, and Nanashi bit her lip to keep from laughing at Sasuke's completely disinterested expression.

She caught a glimpse of Hinata lowering her head slightly, and she frowned, ' _Poor Hinata…'_

"Squad Eight! Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame! Squad Nine! Nanashi Yamamoto," Nanashi turned her head to look at Iruka, grinning, "Reiko Sugimori and Emiko Sugimori!"

"Nice!" She looked over to see Reiko giving her a thumbs up, and Emiko smiling softly at her, "This is gonna be fun, then!"

"Now Squad Ten! Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi!"

Naruto suddenly stood up, yelling, "Iruka-Sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be in a squad with a slug like Sasuke?!"

Iruka looked up from his papers, responding calmly, "Sasuke had the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores. To create a balanced team, we put the best student with the worst student."

"Just make sure you don't get in my way…" Sasuke muttered, "Loser."

They started bickering, but Iruka cut them off, clearing his throat, "After lunch, you'll meet your new Jonin teachers. Until then, class dismissed!"

Nanashi stood, carrying the bento boxes her dad had made for her and Sasuke over to him. "Ready, Sassy?"

Sasuke sent one last glare at Naruto, before turning his attention to her, "Yeah…"

* * *

Nanashi looked out the window she and Sasuke were leaning against, suddenly catching a glimpse of yellow and orange, ' _Oh, no…'_

"Uh… Sassy, I'm gonna go talk to my teammates a bit, okay?" She heard him grunt in reply, and left the room as quickly as she could without alerting him that something was going on.

* * *

"Reiko, Emiko! Hey!"

The twins turned to the sound of their friend's voice. Reiko grinned, "Hey, Nashi! Isn't it great? We're on the same team now!"

Emiko gave a small smile, "I wonder who our sensei will be…"

"Ten bucks it's my dad," Nanashi said dryly. "Then I'd have to not listen to him _twice_ as much!"

Emiko shook her head, laughing softly, "So how do you think the first day will go? Don't they usually do introductions?"

Reiko continued for her, "And if our Sensei _is_ Koukatsu, then… will we not have to do them? I mean, we've been best friends practically since we were born!" She giggled, before turning her attention to Nanashi, "So where were you before this?"

"Oh, I had lunch with Sasuke. I took off when Naruto showed up to ambush him. No big deal, I'll go find him in a few minutes." She gave a disinterested shrug, "He should be free from whatever trap Naruto put him in soon."

* * *

Nanashi walked along the stone path, grinning as she located her lost friend. "Sasuke! There you are!" She paused for a moment, "You _are_ the real Sasuke, aren't you? Not Mr. Whiskers?"

"…It's me," He started walking off, leaving her to trail behind him, "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go kick his ass now."

They continued walking until they found Sakura sitting on a bench. She stood up, blushing, as she noticed them. "Sasuke, you're back!"

Nanashi and Sasuke exchanged a look, ' _What the hell did he do this time?'_

Sakura didn't seem to notice, as she kept on, "Don't be so shy, you bad boy!" They exchanged another 'Are you kidding me?' glance. "Are you ready now? You know, mentally prepared?"

Sasuke discreetly motioned for Nanashi to keep walking, and they both ignored the pinkette. That didn't stop her from continuing, "Because I am! I mean, I'm raring to go! H-Hey, wait a minute!"

Sasuke finally stopped, turning his head to look at her, "Where's Naruto?"

"Oh, see? There you go changing the subject again! Anyway, Naruto just picks fights with you… Y'know why he's so annoying? Because he wasn't raised right!" Nanashi froze in her tracks, anger starting to build up in her as Sakura continued ranting, "He doesn't have a mother or father! No one to teach him right from wrong! Think about it. He just does whatever comes into his head!"

Sasuke turned to her again, his eyes narrowing dangerously, but Sakura continued, "If I did things like Naruto, forget it! I mean, my parents would get mad and I'd get in trouble, so of course I don't do it! But if you don't have parents to tell you, how would you know?" Nanashi had to steady her breathing so she wouldn't snap. "He's selfish and bratty! He's all alone!"

"Alone…" Sasuke spoke quietly, "Isolated… It's not about your parents scolding you. You have no idea what it means to be alone."

"W-Why are you saying that?" Sakura had the nerve to look hurt.

"Because. You're annoying." He started walking off again, stopping when he got to where Nanashi was standing. He put his hand on her shaking shoulder. "Let's go back…"

"…I'll catch up, I promise." She gave her friend a weak smile, and he sighed, nodding once.

"Alright. Don't take too long, or you might be late."

"…Yeah…" He walked off, leaving the two girls standing there alone.

Sakura finally noticed Nanashi's shaking form. "N-Nanashi? Are you alright?"

The other girl whipped around, her eyes burning with rage, "What gives you the right? What gives you the right to think that what you just said is okay?!"

"Wh-What? All I did was tell the truth!"

"No. What you did, was blame the problems of _my friend_ on something that he had absolutely no say in! You _have_ your parents! _Both_ of them! You have zero right to bash someone for not having them!" Angry tears welled in her amethyst eyes, and Sakura was frozen in shame and fear. "You, and everyone else in this goddamn village… You blame people without understanding what they're going through. What they've already been through. You treat them like monsters, like nuisances… and most of you don't even know why! You just follow the crowd, and don't even _attempt_ to get to know the person behind the rumors. To decide for yourself. I can't _stand_ people like you."

"I-I'm so—"

"No. You're not. Don't apologize for something that you're going to continue doing! I don't want to hear an apology from you at _all_ until I know you understand the weight of everything you said."

She scowled when Sakura started to cry, "I'm going in. You may want to hurry, the break is almost up…"


	4. Pass or Fail: Survival Test

Nanashi sat on top of the desk Sasuke occupied, watching Naruto as he complained about his new Sensei's tardiness.

_**~Flashback~** _

_Soon after the break had ended, the Sensei began to show up. As the class started to empty, Koukatsu poked his head in the room, a wide grin plastered on his face. "I bet you didn't see this one coming, did ya, Nanashi?"_

_She and her teammates exchanged a few looks, before Nanashi replied, "So… this means we don't have to do that stupid 'Get to know you' exercise, right?" At her father's nod, she continued, "Then, can I wait and see who Sassy's gonna get stuck with?"_

_Koukatsu laughed, "I think you already know the answer to that one."_

_Nanashi's eyes widened slightly, "You don't mean…"_

" _You got it, Kid! Anyway. Reiko, Emiko, you can head on home now. We'll start our training tomorrow morning. Meet at your usual training grounds at 6 AM, sharp, got it?"_

" _Right!" Both girls bowed politely, before running past him, out of the room. "See you tomorrow, Nashi!"_

_**~End Flashback~** _

Nanashi gave Sasuke and Naruto a sympathetic look, ' _I can't believe they're gonna have to deal with Uncle Kashi…'_

Her thoughts were interrupted as Sasuke poked her knee, trying to get her attention. "What's up with you?"

She just shook her head slightly, before nodding her head toward the door. Sasuke took that to mean she was just as annoyed at the blond as he was.

"Naruto!" Sakura suddenly called, "Sit down!"

Naruto turned his head back to look at her, "I don't want to! How come our teacher is the only one that's late?! I'm ready to roll! Believe it!" He whipped around to face them completely, "The other groups have already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka-sensei's gone too!"

Sakura sighed, "We know, okay?"

Nanashi's full attention was drawn to the door as she heard a _thunk_. She pursed her lips, trying to hold back her laughter, "What are you doing?"

Naruto started laughing deviously as he set up his 'perfect' prank. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she marched over to him, "Naruto!"

"That's what he gets for coming late! Surprise!" Naruto jumped down from the stool he was on, striking a victory pose. Nanashi giggled as she looked up at the eraser that was wedged in the door.

She rolled her eyes as the pinkette started scolding Naruto, "You're asking for trouble! You know you shouldn't do that!"

Sasuke grunted in annoyance, drawing Nanashi's attention to him, "Our teacher's a Jonin. An elite ninja. You think that he'd fall for that?"

Nanashi was about to speak up, ' _Yes, in fact, he probably would,'_ but Sakura cut her off.

"Yeah, Sasuke's right! You're so clueless, Naruto!" Before she could continue her rant, a hand appeared in the doorway, and Nanashi turned completely to face the new arrival. She bit her lip, holding back laughter as a silver-haired man stuck his head in, the eraser falling and hitting him rather lightly.

' _I knew it.'_

Naruto started laughing loudly, pointing at their new Sensei, "I got him! He totally fell for it!"

Sakura immediately put on an innocent act, "I'm sorry, Sensei! I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen! I'd _never_ do anything like that!"

As the man bent to pick up the eraser, he met Nanashi's eyes, and she could tell he was just as amused at the situation as she was. He straightened back up, putting a hand to his chin as if he were thinking, "Hmm… How can I put this? My first impression of this group… You're a bunch of idiots. Oh, and hello, Nanashi."

"Hi!" She grinned, earning a small glare from Sasuke.

* * *

As they all moved to where Team Seven was going to do their introductions, Sasuke glanced over at his best friend, "You know this guy, Nanashi?"

Nanashi nodded, beaming at him, "He's really good friends with my dad, right Uncle Kashi?"

The man in question looked down at her, "Yeah. Since I was about your age, actually."

They continued walking in silence until they got to their destination, and Kakashi leaned back against the railing. His students took their seats on the small set of stairs, and Nanashi hopped up to sit on the railing next to Kakashi. As soon as they were settled, Kakashi spoke up again, "Alright. Why don't you introduce yourselves. One at a time."

Sakura spoke up first, "Introduce ourselves? Well… what are we supposed to say?"

"Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that," He unfolded his arms, shrugging, and crossed them again.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first?" Naruto suggested, "I mean, before we talk, tell us about you, so we can see how it's supposed to work!"

"Me?" Kakashi pointed at himself. Nanashi fought the urge to facepalm, knowing what was going to come next. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… Mmm… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future… Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies!"

' _Yeah, like reading porn.'_ Nanashi thought, giggling.

Kakashi looked over at her, and she knew he had a huge grin on his face, "What? Was that not what they wanted? If you think _you_ can do better, then go ahead. Be my guest!"

Nanashi pouted, "Y'know, I thought I'd avoided having to do one of these…" She turned to face the three on the steps. "…Fine… I mean, you guys already know this, but I'm Nanashi Yamamoto. I like my friends, and my family. And food! My hobbies are reading and eating. Um… Dreams for the future, I don't know… I just want to have a happy life, I guess! And for dislikes… Vegetables, and…" She looked Sakura dead in the eye, "People who judge others before they know who the person really is."

Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor, and Naruto just had a look of confusion. Kakashi cleared his throat, "Right. Thank you for that, Nanashi. Who's next?"

Naruto sat up straighter, playing with his headband, "Oh! Me! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I _really_ like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop! But, I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the ramen in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is… To be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody important!"

Nanashi beamed at her blond friend as Kakashi studied him. "Alright… Next?"

"I'm Sakura Haruno! What I like, uh… I mean the _person_ that I like is…" She blushed, casting a glance over at Sasuke. He shared an annoyed look with Nanashi, "Uh… My hobby is…" She giggled, worrying Nanashi a little, "My dream for the future is…" She cut herself off again, squealing loudly.

Kakashi just looked tired, "And? What do you hate?"

" **NARUTO**!" Said boy looked completely devastated.

Kakashi fought back a sigh, "Alright. Last one."

Sasuke propped his elbows up on his knees, steepling his fingers together in front of his mouth. Nanashi rolled her eyes at her dramatic friend, "My name… is Sasuke Uchiha. I _hate_ a lot of things, and I don't particularly _like_ anything."

Nanashi pouted, "Rude."

He ignored her, his eyes narrowing, "What I have isn't a dream, because I _will_ make it a reality." Nanashi began to mouth along with him, having heard this speech a thousand times, "I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a _certain someone._ "

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward, and Naruto froze in fear. Kakashi spoke up again, "You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." He glanced over at Nanashi, "You're not invited on this one, sorry!" She just pouted again.

Naruto looked excited again, "What kind of mission are we going to have?"

"It's a task that the four of us will do together."

"What, what, what, what?!"

"A survival exercise."

Sakura interjected, "I thought we were supposed to have a mission, not more practice! We already did this stuff at the academy, that's how we got here!"

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed almost unnoticeably, "This is not like your previous training."

Naruto raised a hand nervously, "So, uh, what kind of training is it, then?"

Kakashi started laughing, unnerving his students. Nanashi shook her head in amusement at her honorary uncle, "Just tell 'em, Kakashi."

"Right, right…"

"Hey, hold on!" Sakura said, frowning, "That's a normal question! What's so funny?"

Kakashi laughed again, tauntingly, "Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it~!" He suddenly turned serious. "Of the twenty-seven graduates who just came here, only twelve will actually be accepted as Genin. The other fifteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make-it-or-break-it, pass-fail test. And the chance that you'll fail is at _least_ fifty-five percent." He waited for their reactions before he continued, "See? Didn't I tell you, you wouldn't like it?"

Naruto leaned forward, yelling, "That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for, anyway?!"

"Oh that. That was just to select the candidates who _might_ become Genin. Or not."

"Whaaaat?!"

Kakashi sighed, "That's how it is. _I_ decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5 AM. And bring your ninja gear. That's it, you're dismissed! Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else... you'll puke!"

* * *

Nanashi groaned as she was suddenly pushed off of her heat source. "Sassy..?"

Her friend grunted, moving around the room to collect his things for the training day ahead of him. "Go back to sleep, I'm heading out to meet my team."

"…Kay. G'luck."

Sasuke got dressed, before trudging down the stairs to the front door. He gave a brief wave to Koukatsu and headed out the door. The older man smiled softly, ' _I do hope he can handle this… Poor kid, he just had to get the most difficult Sensei, didn't he? Ah well… I'm sure this will all work out for him in the end.'_

He turned back to his book, and the next time he looked up, it was time to head to their training grounds. Just before he could get up to wake Nanashi, a loud _CRASH_ was heard. He looked over to the stairs, and didn't have time to hold back the laughter that exploded from him as he saw his daughter in a crumpled mess on the floor, "Um… Nanashi? Y-You – pfft – you alright there?"

The girl slowly pushed herself up, an angry red mark on her forehead. "Thanks for your concern, _Dad_."

Shinji rounded the corner, a cup of coffee in his hand and smirk plastered on his face, "Y'know… That injury could've been avoided if you had your forehead protector, oh, I dunno, _on_ _your forehead_?"

Nanashi grumbled under her breath as she got to her feet, dusting herself off. "So, what's the plan for today, Dad?"

"Training." Nanashi sweatdropped at is vague answer, but decided not to push further as they made their way toward their training ground.

The twins were already there waiting for them by the time they got there. As soon as they noticed Nanashi and Koukatsu approaching, Reiko beamed at them, waving excitedly. Emiko stood next to her, trying her best to look awake. The second they stopped walking, Nanashi crossed her ankles and dropped into a comfortable sitting position, waiting for her father to explain his plan for the day.

"Alright, girls!" Koukatsu began, catching their attention. "Today we're going to learn what it is that I need to focus on for each of you. I know for a fact, after knowing you all your whole lives, that each of you possesses a talent for a specific kind of Jutsu. Nanashi!" The purple eyed girl startled, surprised at the sudden focus on her, "You excel more in Ninjutsu. Reiko, for you it's Taijutsu, and Emiko, Genjutsu." The girls nodded, not quite catching on. Koukatsu rolled his eyes before continuing, "My job is to make sure you balance out your skills. One thing I want to do today is find out your chakra affinity."

The three girls shared confused looks, and Reiko raised her hand slightly, "Uh… How are we going to do that..?"

Koukatsu grinned, pulling out four pieces of paper from his pocket. "These," He gave them each a piece, "are called litmus papers. If you put a little of your chakra into it, it will tell the nature of it." He held up the remaining one, "Like this!" The paper in his hand ignited into flames.

Nanashi's eyes widened, "Neat!"

Emiko finally looked more awake, "So that means you have fire nature, right, Sensei?" Koukatsu nodded, beaming proudly. "So then how is it that you can use other elements?"

"One's nature doesn't determine what they have to use exclusively. It just means that jutsu of that nature are _easier_ to control." Koukatsu explained, "In my years of training, I've learned to master two others. Lightning and earth."

Reiko was bouncing excitedly, "Ooh, ooh, can I try first?"

Koukatsu leaned against the tree behind him, "Go for it."

The pink-haired girl held up her paper, focusing on it intently. Suddenly, it started to crumble away into dirt. "Whoa... That's so cool! What does that mean?" She stared up at Koukatsu, her eyes wide with excitement.

Emiko answered for him, "That means you have earth, I think…" She turned to him questioningly, "Doesn't it?" He nodded again. "Do you think I have the same?"

Their Sensei shrugged one shoulder, "I mean, probably. But you'll never know until you test it out! You too, Nanashi!" Both remaining girls immediately started to imbue their chakra into their papers. In almost perfect sync, Nanashi's caught fire as Emiko's turned to dirt. "Just as I thought," His eyes twinkled with amusement at their awed expressions. "Now, since we've learned those, we know which types of Ninjutsu we can start on first!"

"Um… Dad?" Nanashi raised an eyebrow, "Why, uh… Why don't we start with the basics? You know, tree climbing, walking on water? The easy stuff!"

"Are you the Sensei?"

"...No..?"

"That's what I thought!" Koukatsu crossed his arms, "I am, and I decide what we're going to learn and when we're going to learn it!" Nanashi cocked her head, "...And we're going to start with tree climbing." The three girls giggled, "And _then_ we're going to do the other stuff. Eventually."

* * *

Nanashi and the twins tiredly made their way to Ichiraku, where Team Seven were waiting for them. Their friends seemed even more exhausted than they did, and Naruto was already on his fifth bowl. Nanashi dropped heavily onto the stool beside Sasuke, who looked like he was about to fall asleep in his ramen. "So… How was training?"

Sasuke's dark glare didn't even phase her as she placed her order with Ayame. Naruto started ranting, his mouth so full that no one could understand him. He soon realized that fact and swallowed everything, "Why didn't you warn us that he'd be so hard on us?!"

Nanashi put her chin in her hand, resting her elbow on the counter, "Did you ask?"

"No…" Naruto pouted, shovelling more into his mouth.

"Well, there ya go." She started wiggling in her seat as Ayame came with her food, "Thanks, Ayame!" She looked over at her teammates, who had both perked up at the arrival of their own bowls. "Let's dig in!"


	5. Our First Real Mission! On To The Land of Wind!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Squad Nine's first big mission begins!

Teams Seven and Nine stood in front of the Hokage, waiting to be assigned their next missions. They had just finished catching Tora the cat for Madam Shijimi. Again.

"Ooohh! My poor little Tora, Mommy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzykins, yeeees~!" Nanashi winced as the woman forcefully cuddled the poor thing.

Naruto laughed loudly, "Stupid cat! That kitty deserves to be squashed!"

"No wonder he ran away…" Sakura muttered.

They all turned their attention to the Hokage as he began to speak, "Now then. For Squads Seven and Nine's next missions we have several available tasks. Ah… Among them, babysitting the Chief Counselor's three year old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes, and-"

"Nooooooo!" Naruto cut him off, "I wanna go on a real mission!"

Nanashi immediately jumped in next to him, "Yeah! I do too!" The two Sensei shared a tired look, but didn't say anything.

"Something challenging and exciting, not this little kid stuff! C'mon, old man!"

Iruka stood up, slamming his hands on the table, "How dare you?! You're just a brand new Genin with no experience! Like everyone else you start with simple missions to develop skills and prove yourself!"

Naruto puffed up angrily, "Are you serious?! Babysitting is not a mission, it's just a stupid-" He was cut off by Kakashi punching him on top of the head, knocking him to the floor.

"Will you put a lid on it?"

The Hokage finally spoke up again, "Naruto!" Naruto started whining, rubbing his head, "It seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given!" That caught the boy's attention, "Listen. Many different requests come into our village every day, from babysitting to assassinations." He continued to explain, but soon the boy lost interest, turning to talk to the others.

"-So I had this tonkatsu ramen yesterday, and I'm thinking miso ramen today-"

"Silence!"

They all turned their attention to the Hokage. "Oh. Sorry," Kakashi said simply.

Naruto started yelling again, "You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not the little brat who used to pull pranks all the time! I'm a Ninja now, and I want a Ninja mission!" He spun around, still seated on the floor, "Hmph!"

Reiko raised her hand, "Lord Third, I gotta say, I agree! We want something more challenging!" Emiko just nodded in agreement.

Kakashi shared another look with Koukatsu, rubbing the back of his head, "We're going to hear about this later…" The other man sighed, shaking his head in despair at the kids.

The Hokage began to laugh, "Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat. He's a former brat." Nanashi nodded once in agreement, " And he wants a mission. So be it." The Genin all perked up in surprise as he continued, "Since you are so determined, I'm going to give you C-Ranked missions. Squad Seven, you will be bodyguards on a journey."

Naruto whipped back around, "Really?! Yes! Who?! Who?! Are we guarding a princess?! Or some bigwig counselor?"

"Don't be so impatient. I will bring him in now." He turned his attention to the door, "Send in our visitor!"

The door slid open and an old man walked in, "What the..? A bunch of little snot-nosed kids?!" He paused to guzzle down the bottle of alcohol in his hand, "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on your face! You really expect me to believe that you're a Ninja?"

Naruto laughed, looking around, "Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his fa-" He stopped laughing as Sasuke and Sakura stepped closer, measuring their height, "Huh..?"

"That'd be you, buddy," Nanashi chimed, trying to hold back her laughter. Reiko wasn't even bothering trying to hide her own.

Kakashi quickly grabbed the blond by the collar of his jacket as he tried to attack the man, "I'll demolish you! Let me get-"

"You can't demolish the client, Naruto, it doesn't work that way."

* * *

Once Team Seven had left on their mission to the Land of Waves, Team Nine directed their attention back to the Hokage. He cleared his throat before addressing them, "I had already intended to send someone to the Land of Wind to speak to Lord Kazekage about the arrangements for his Ninja to participate in the upcoming Chunin Exams. Therefore, I want the four of you to go to the Village Hidden in the Sand."

Koukatsu took a step forward, "Understood. His children are competing, aren't they? They'll need a place to stay while they're here."

The Hokage nodded in agreement, "That is something you can arrange with them while you are there."

Nanashi started bouncing excitedly next to her father, "A real mission! I can't wait!" She bounded toward the door, Reiko and Emiko following right behind her, "We can leave right away!"

Koukatsu hurried after them, "Wait a second, hold on, we have to get packed first." Nanashi just waved her hand in dismissal, "You really expect to survive out in the desert without any supplies? You don't even have anything to eat on the way, you know!"

Nanashi froze mid-step, "N-No food?"

"Not a crumb."

"W-Well, then, I think we should start packing right away…" Koukatsu hummed in amusement, "and then we can get on the road!"

"Thaaaat's more like it, Kid."

* * *

As soon as they had finished packing, Team Nine was on the way to the Village Hidden in the Sand. Three days later, they were trekking their way through the desert. After several hours of walking in the blazing heat, Nanashi gave up. "Daaaaad, carry meeee!"

"Nanashi, you're a Ninja now. You have to be able to make these trips yourself." Koukatsu sighed, pushing some hair out of his face, "Besides. If no one can carry me, everyone has to walk."

* * *

"Dad?"

"...Yes, Nanashi?"

"How much longer?"

He paused for a moment to shift Nanashi into a better hold on his back, "Shouldn't be too far now."

* * *

"Are we almost there, Sensei?"

"Yeah, just a bit more." He had to stop again before he lost grip, one twin settled on his back and the other being carried Koala-style.

* * *

"We made it!" Nanashi panted heavily, holding Koukatsu up under his arms. Each twin was supporting one leg.

As they got to the entrance of the village, Nanashi unceremoniously dropped her father in the sand, the other two following suit. Koukatsu groaned in pain, sitting up slowly. "We should find where we're staying before we go to the Kazekage and get cleaned up…"


	6. The Kazekage's Children! An Unexpected Friendship.

To Koukatsu's surprise, they turned out to be staying in guest rooms at the Kazekage's house. The twins took one room, while Koukatsu and Nanashi took the other. By the time they had settled in, the sun was beginning to set. "Dad?" He looked up from his book to see Nanashi standing in front of him in her pajamas, her hands clasped behind her back, "I'm gonna go up to the roof and watch the sunset, ok?"

Koukatsu smiled, nodding, "Alright, but bring a blanket, it gets cold here at night."

Nanashi excitedly ran off to collect a few snacks and a blanket before making her way up to the roof. After about an hour of peaceful silence, she felt the presence of someone else behind her. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw a red-haired boy her age staring at her. "Hello! You're welcome to join me if you want! I have food!" All she got in return was silence. "Am I in your spot? I can move if you want me to." She began to scoot over a little, but stopped when he suddenly sat next to her. "Not much of a talker, huh?"

When she didn't get a response, she just shrugged and went back to watching the sky. "Lovely night, isn't it? The moon is so pretty…" She knew she wouldn't get a response, so she continued, "Do you come out here a lot?" She turned her head to look at him, and was pleasantly surprised when he spared her a glance and a slight nod. "I would stay out every night if I could…"

"I'm Nanashi, by the way. It's nice to meet someone new!" She stuffed a few chips in her mouth, before holding the bag out to her companion, "Want some?" Silence. "Oh well, suit yourself."

* * *

Koukatsu looked over at the clock, his eyes widening when he realized how late it was, and that Nanashi had never returned. When he got up to the roof, he smiled at the sight of his daughter asleep, curled up comfortably in her blanket. Then he noticed the person next to her. "Oh, hey. Sorry if she bothered you at all." The boy looked up at him, but stayed silent as Koukatsu scooped Nanashi up in his arms, "I'm sure this won't be the last time I'm doing this while we're here…Anyway, goodnight!"

* * *

Nanashi woke up in bed the next morning, thoroughly confused. ' _Where am I..?'_ She sat up, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, ' _Last I remember, I was watching the moon with that guy… How did I get here..?'_

She threw the covers off of her and quickly changed out of her pajamas, before heading out to join the living in the other room. Koukatsu looked up from his plate, fork halfway to his mouth, "Mornin' sleepyhead!"

She waved tiredly to the other occupants of the room, "Mornin'..." Reiko was wide awake as usual, but Emiko looked like she was going to fall asleep in her cereal at any second. Next to her was a blonde girl, who smiled politely at her. "...You're new…"

Before the girl could respond, the redhead from the night before walked in, followed by another boy. The newcomer trudged over to the fridge, grabbed the carton of milk, and made his way over to the table. He dropped heavily into a chair and began chugging from the carton, earning him a disgusted look from his sister. "What?"

"We have guests, Kankuro!" The girl scolded.

Kankuro rolled his eyes, "I _know_ , Temari. I can see that." He propped his feet up on the table, turning to the twins across from him. "'Sup?" Nanashi sat next to him, catching his attention. "Why do we have guests, again?"

Koukatsu had just taken a huge bite, so Nanashi answered for him. "We're here to make arrangements for the Chunin Exams. Something about your living arrangements for while you're there?" Koukatsu nodded, giving a muffled ' _Mm-hm_ ' in confirmation.

"Cool. Who are you?"

Nanashi straightened up a little in surprise, "Oh! I'm Nanashi. The girl that's half-conscious is Emiko," Emiko blinked sleepily, "And that's Reiko." Reiko grinned, waving excitedly. Nanashi looked over at her dad, who was still happily chowing down on his breakfast. "The guy about to choke over there is my dad, and our Sensei, Koukatsu."

Kankuro held his hand out and she shook it. "Kankuro. The sourpuss is Temari." Temari scowled. He ignored her, gesturing over his shoulder to the redhead, who was leaning against the wall. "That's Gaara. He doesn't talk much."

Nanashi turned and beamed at the other boy, "Yeah, I noticed that. Why don't you come join us?"

Kankuro and Temari's eyes widened, and Kankuro shook his head quickly, "Oh, no, he usually keeps to himse-" Gaara sat down on the other side of Nanashi. "-lf… But hey, what do I know?"

Koukatsu stood up, clearing his throat to catch everyone's attention. "Well, I've gotta go. Meeting the Kazekage in, like, ten minutes. That won't look good if I'm late." His team started to stand up as well, and he held out his hands to stop them, "You guys stay here, there's really no need for all of us to go! Just hang out with these three today." They happily settled back into their seats. "See you guys later!"

* * *

Soon after breakfast ended, Gaara disappeared. Nanashi shrugged it off, making her way into the other room where the rest of them had gathered. She dropped herself onto the couch beside Kankuro. "So. What's there to do around here that's fun?"

Kankuro and Temari shared a look. "This… is about it," Temari answered, "There isn't much here."

Nanashi shrugged, throwing her feet up into Kankuro's lap. " _Yeah, sure, make yourself comfortable_." They all started up a conversation that ended up lasting until Gaara reemerged. "Time for lunch already?"

Nanashi sat up, swinging her feet back around. "I'm up for barbecue! How 'bout you guys?" The twins, Kankuro, and Temari all voiced their agreements, and she turned to Gaara, "You can join us, if you'd like to!"

"...Sure."

Everyone froze in surprise, and Reiko whispered, "So he _does_ speak…"

* * *

After a week of being in the Sand Village, Nanashi had become good friends with Kankuro and Temari. So much so, that Koukatsu and the Kazekage decided that the Sand Siblings would be staying with them during the Chunin Exams.

Every night at sundown, Nanashi would make her way up to the roof, bowl of snacks in hand and blanket thrown around her shoulders. As soon as night took over, Gaara would appear, sitting next to her in silence. She would find something to talk about, and Gaara would even respond with nods and the occasional grunt sometimes. On the last night, however, a Sand ninja called out to her before Gaara had come to join her.

"Hey, Kid!" Nanashi startled, turning to him. "What are you doing out here every night? Don't you know it's dangerous here?"

Nanashi shrugged it off, "I'm not worried, I can take care of myself! Besides, I'll have Gaara here if something does happen!"

"You don't get it, do you, Kid?"

"...Get what?"

" _He_ 's what makes this place so dangerous!"

"What? No, Gaara? I mean, he's quiet and all, but that's not a bad thing!" Nanashi couldn't fathom why anyone would fear her new friend. "What makes you say all this?" She frowned, not liking the way this conversation was going.

"Did no one warn you about that _monster_?"

Nanashi immediately bristled. "Hey! I don't know what problem you have, but don't you dare talk like that!" She stood up, knocking her bowl over in the process.

The man sighed in frustration, "No, I mean _seriously_! He's got that _thing_ in him! He's a demon!" Nanashi's eyes widened, and the man assumed he finally got her to understand. "Do you get it now?!"

Nanashi nodded slowly, "Yeah… Yeah, I get it…"

"Good."

With that, the man left her alone, and she sat back down, lost in thought. A few minutes later, Gaara sat beside her. She glanced at him with a small smile, but didn't say anything. They sat in silence for a while, before a voice startled her out of her thoughts. "You're quiet. Something's on your mind."

"Oh, yeah… Just something somebody said." She laid back, sighing as she gazed up at the moon. "We go back to Konoha tomorrow, y'know?" Gaara glanced over at Nanashi, nodding slightly. "It's gonna be weird going back to sitting alone…" She sat up, smiling warmly, "You're good company." She turned her eyes back to the sky and Gaara's eyes narrowed as he analyzed her. Suddenly, Nanashi yawned, standing up and stretching. "Whelp. I've got a long next few days, so I should go in… I guess I'll see you at the Chunin Exams?" When she didn't get a response, she shrugged before making her way inside.

* * *

"Nanashi!"

Nanashi shot up in her bed, the momentum throwing her out of it and onto the ground, "What?! What happened?!"

Kankuro stood above her, his lips pursed in an attempt to keep his laughter at bay, "G'mornin'! Your team's about to leave you behind."

The girl jumped up quickly, scrambling to get her things together. "Why didn't anyone wake me up sooner?!" Kankuro shrugged, opening his mouth to reply when suddenly a pillow smacked him in the face, "Get out! I gotta change!"

Kankuro scowled as she started to shove him toward the door, "Hey! Watch it, Shortstack! I'm goin' already!" Nanashi responded by literally kicking him out of the room.

* * *

After a quick breakfast, Team Nine was ready to head out. Nanashi hugged Temari and fist-bumped Kankuro as they said goodbye. "See you guys soon!"

Reiko and Emiko both quickly hugged Temari, and Kankuro rolled his eyes, "How come only she gets hugs? She's not so special…" The three girls shared a look of amusement before squeezing him into a group hug.

After a few more goodbyes, Koukatsu lead them out of the village. "Well, girls, you ready to get back?" Reiko bounded ahead of them, cheering excitedly. Emiko sighed, quickly following after the pinkette. Koukatsu laughed loudly, "Well, I guess that answers that question!"

As they made their way back home, he noticed that Nanashi was unusually quiet, "Hey, you alright, Kid?"

Nanashi blinked, stirred from her thoughts, "Yeah, I'm good! Just thinking."

"About?"

She looked down at the sand as they walked, "Well… About Gaara, actually."

Koukatsu froze mid-step, "What."

Nanashi laughed, shaking her head, "No, no, not like that, Dad." Koukatsu sighed in relief, catching up to her. "I mean... last night, there was this guy talking about him. Like people in our village talk about Naruto."

Koukatsu looked down at her, a look of realization crossing his face, "I see…" He patted Nanashi on the head, "Hey, don't think too far into it. Just… know that there are people out there who, well… they fear the unknown. Sometimes that fear can make people do cruel things, and that only breeds more hatred. Naruto's handled it very well, considering his circumstances, because he's had people there to balance out the hatred with love. Unfortunately, not everyone has that."

"Even Kankuro and Temari seem to be afraid of him…" Nanashi said sadly, "Do you think it's true? That he's… y'know, that he's like Naruto?"

"Yeah. He is. But that never stopped you from caring for Naruto, did it?" Nanashi perked up, shaking her head. "Are you going to let it affect how you see Gaara?" She shook her head again. "Good." He looked up at the sky, sighing, ' _Lord knows that boy needs a friend… and now Nanashi's more determined than ever to be just that.'_


	7. A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exam!

"When you left, I asked you to do one thing. One thing! What was it? Oh yeah, _don't die_! And what did you do?!"

"...Almost died…"

Team Seven had finally returned home from their mission, and the moment Nanashi and Sasuke had reunited, he started to tell her everything. He was regretting that decision.

Nanashi sighed, running her hand through her hair, "At least you came home… It's good to have you back, Sassy."

* * *

Nanashi stood at the entrance to the village, rocking impatiently on her heels. Soon, she could just make out the forms of the Sand Siblings and their Sensei, and she started bouncing excitedly. She ran to meet them, almost tackling Temari as she hugged her. "Finally, you guys made it! I've missed you!"

Temari hugged her back tightly, "It's great to see you, Nanashi."

Once the girls ended their hug, Kankuro swept Nanashi up into a bear hug, her feet leaving the ground. "Hey, Shortstack!"

She squirmed in his hold, "Don't call me that, you jerk!" He set her back on her feet, laughing loudly. Before Nanashi could even think of greeting Gaara, he had vanished. "Oh… I guess he'll meet us later…" She shrugged, turning her attention back to the other two. "You guys ready to see where you'll be staying?"

* * *

A loud scream rang throughout the village as Nanashi, Temari, and Kankuro made their way to Nanashi's home. Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise, "What the hell was _that_?!"

Nanashi waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, probably just Naruto. Don't worry about it." As they kept moving, she noticed Konohamaru running in their direction, "Kankuro, look-" Konohamaru crashed into him, falling to the ground, "-out… Nevermind."

Kankuro stared the boy down, "Do you need something?" He lifted Konohamaru off of the ground by his scarf, "So, does this hurt, punk?"

Nanashi and Temari spoke at the same time, "Put him down, Kankuro!" Nanashi stepped closer, ready to break it up as Temari continued, "Or you know you'll pay for it later!"

"Hey, I'm sorry," Sakura interjected, "The whole thing was my fault."

"You better take your hands off him right now!" Naruto yelled.

Kankuro grinned, ignoring Nanashi and Temari's warnings, "We've got a few minutes before he gets here, let's mess with these punks, huh?"

Konohamaru started to kick at him, straining against his grip, "Let go of me, you jerk!"

"You're feisty. But not for long~!"

Nanashi could see Naruto getting angrier by the second. "Put. Him. Doooown!" He ran at Kankuro, but was suddenly sent flying back by an invisible force. "What the..? What was that?!"

"You're a leaf genin, too?" Kankuro asked condescendingly, "Looks like your village is full of wimps!"

"Oi!"

He had the decency to look a little embarrassed, "Oh, I don't mean you, Shortstack."

"Hey, cut it out! It hurts!" Konohamaru cried out.

Naruto jumped back to his feet, "That's it! Drop him now, or I take you apart, you got that, fool?!"

Suddenly, Sakura caught him in a headlock, yelling at him, "You're the fool! Making threats isn't going to help, Naruto!" As much as Nanashi disliked her use of violence, she couldn't help but be thankful for Sakura's attempt at stopping the fight that was coming.

"You're annoying. All of you." Kankuro said, glaring at the two Genin. "I don't like runts, or any other scrawny weaklings. So, when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth, I just wanna break him in half."

Temari gave up, sighing, "Fine… I'm not involved in any of this, okay?"

"First, I'll take care of this little squirt, then I'll waste the other one!" He pulled his free arm back, ready to sock Konohamaru. Before he could, however, a rock beamed him in the hand holding Konohamaru's scarf.

They all turned in the direction it came from to see Sasuke sitting in a tree, casually tossing another rock in his hand. "You're a long way from home, and you're way out of your league."

Nanashi's eye twitched when Sakura screamed, "SASUKE!" She rolled her eyes when she noticed that Temari was even blushing.

She raised a hand in greeting to her best friend, "Hey, Sassy."

Kankuro, still clutching his wrist, grumbled, "Oh great, another wimp to tick me off…"

Sasuke crushed the rock in his hand, "Get lost."

Konohamaru turned and pointed at Naruto, "How come you're not cool like that?!"

Naruto quickly moved to reassure him, "Ah, what do you mean? I coulda taken that guy out in two seconds flat!"

"Hey, punk!" Nanashi turned her attention back to Kankuro, "Get down here. You're the kind of punk that I hate the most! All attitude and nothin' to back it up!" He pulled the bandaged thing loose from his back, ready to fight.

Temari stepped forward, surprised, "What?! Are you gonna use the Crow for this?"

"Kankuro. Back off." A new voice startled everyone. They all turned to the new person, various looks of surprise on their faces. Nanashi's quickly changed to a grin when she realized who it was. "You're an embarrassment to our village."

Kankuro started sweating nervously, "Uh… Hey, Gaara…"


	8. Identify Yourself: Powerful New Rivals

Gaara stared down his older brother, "Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?"

"I-I know, I-I mean, they challenged us!" Kankuro stuttered out, trying not to anger him even more. "They started the whole thing, really… See, here's what happen-"

"Shut up." Kankuro flinched as Gaara's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Or I'll kill you."

"Ah, right… I was totally out of line… I-I'm sorry, Gaara, I was totally out of line."

Gaara turned his attention to Naruto and the others, "I'm sorry for any trouble he caused."

Nanashi could see Sasuke analyzing the redhead, and she was almost worried he'd try to start something again. Before anyone could speak, though, Gaara disappeared in a flurry of sand, reappearing in front of his siblings. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games."

"A-Alright, sure. I get it."

Gaara began to walk off, ignoring Nanashi's muttering, "We, ah… we were going that way…" As Kankuro and Temari followed their brother, she shrugged, rolling her eyes, "Yeah, okay."

Sakura suddenly ran forward, calling out to them, "Hold on!" Nanashi's eyes narrowed slightly at the pinkette. "HEY!"

They didn't even turn around as Temari replied, "What?"

"I can tell from your headband that you come from the Village Hidden in the Sand!"

"Sakura. Butt out." Nanashi warned.

"Of course, the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies," Sakura continued, ignoring the other girl. "But no Shinobi can enter another's village without permission! So state your purpose, and it better be good!"

Nanashi was steaming quietly as the others finally turned around. "Really…" Temari began, almost condescendingly, "Have you guys all been living under a rock, or what? You don't know what's going on, do you?" She held up her passport. "We have permission." Sasuke choked out a sound of surprise. "Of course, you're correct. We are Hidden Sand Genin. Our home is the Land of the Wind, and we're here for the Chunin Exams. Get the picture?"

Naruto squinted, confused, "The Chunin Exams? What's that?"

Nanashi raised an eyebrow, "Seriously? Uncle Kakashi never told you guys?"

"W-Well, I've never heard of the Chunin Exams, believe it!"

Temari laughed, "Oh, I believe it, alright, that you're totally _clueless_."

"Hey, Boss!" Konohamaru spoke up, "Those are the exams that every Genin has got to take in order to graduate to being a full-on Chunin!"

Naruto grinned, growing excited, "Oh, well then, why didn't you say so?! I am so there!"

Gaara turned and started to walk away again, Temari and Kankuro following after him. As they walked off, Sasuke finally jumped down from the tree, "Hey! You!" Nanashi rolled her eyes as he tried to be intimidating. "Identify yourself!"

Temari turned around, blushing as she pointed to herself, "Hm? You mean me?"

"No, him. The guy with the gourd on his back."

Gaara turned back around, "My name is Gaara, of the desert. I'm curious about you, too. Who are you?"

"I am Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hi there!" Naruto interjected, "I bet you're dying to know my name, right?!"

"I couldn't care less." The Sand Siblings turned around again and Nanashi had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

She waved to Sasuke as she followed them, "I'll meet back up with you later, Sassy!" As soon as they were out of sight from Team Seven, she stopped them, grinning. "So, since we went the wrong direction from my house... Who's up for some barbecue?"

* * *

"Sassy!"

Sasuke turned away from his teammates, toward the voice calling for him. "Nanashi." The girl jogged up to him, beaming. Reiko and Emiko were right behind her. "Stop calling me that, no one will take me seriously!"

Nanashi just shrugged unapologetically. "Let's get going, I wanna get a good seat!" As they walked into the Academy where the first exam was taking place, Nanashi grabbed her best friend's wrist, dragging him along.

Just as they arrived, a boy in green was knocked to the ground. Nanashi released Sasuke, marching toward the commotion. Suddenly, she heard voices mocking him, "You're taking the Chunin Exams, but you can't even get past us? Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt?"

"Yeah, I think I hear your mommy calling you!"

"Please, let us through, we're supposed to go in there!" A girl knelt beside the boy, a pleading look on her face. She stood up, trying to move past the two in the doorway, but she was quickly knocked back.

Nanashi rolled her eyes as she realized what was going on. She continued down the hall, giving a short wave to the two bullies. "Hey Izumo. Hey Kotetsu." They opened their mouths to respond, but she was already gone.

She made her way to the room where the exam was held, but the moment she opened the door, a feeling of dread raced down her spine. She immediately shut the door, going back to her friends. "It's scary in there." Then she noticed the scene in front of her. "What'd I miss?"

She was suddenly being squeezed into a tight hug, her feet coming off of the ground, "Nanashi! It is great to see you!"

"Lee!" She laughed happily. "You did a good job with that 'weak and defenseless' act. I gotta say, even I was almost convinced."

Lee set her back down on her feet, beaming. "Why, thank you! I must say it was one of my greatest performances!"

Nanashi turned to Lee's teammates, "Tenten! It's been a while." She hugged her friend quickly, before turning her attention to the other boy next to her. "Hyuga." He just nodded his head once in greeting.

Sasuke's eyes furrowed in confusion, and Nanashi could tell his mind was racing. Before she could explain, though, Lee had spotted Sakura. He walked up to her, cutting between Sasuke and Nanashi in the process. "My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right?"

A look of confusion filled her face, "Huh?"

Lee winked, giving her a thumbs up. "Please, be my girlfriend!" Nanashi had to cover her mouth to keep her laugh contained, keeping herself steady by leaning on Sasuke. "I vow to protect you with my life!"

A look of dread replaced the confusion on Sakura's face, "Definitely… not."

Lee's expression dropped, "Aww… Why?"

"Because you're a weirdo!" Nanashi immediately stopped laughing, and Sasuke quickly grabbed her arm to keep her calm. Naruto, on the other hand, laughed loudly as Lee went off to sulk.

"Hey you! Over here!" They heard a voice behind them, and Sasuke and Nanashi turned around to see Lee's teammates approaching them.

"What do you want, Hyuga?" Nanashi's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Not you, Yamamoto. Your friend." He turned his gaze away from her. "What's your name?"

As Naruto fumed behind them, Sasuke responded calmly, "It's common courtesy for you to give your own name before asking someone else's."

"That's rich coming from you, Sassy…" Nanashi muttered under her breath, ignoring the glare he shot her.

"Hey, you're a rookie, aren't you? How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm not obliged to answer."

"What's that?" The Hyuga glared, clearly agitated. Tenten just giggled behind him.

Sasuke turned and started walking away, and Nanashi heard Lee and Naruto complaining.

"A _weirdo_?"

"No one wants to know _my_ name…"

Before anything else could go down, Nanashi called to her teammates, "Reiko, Emiko, you ready to kick this exam's ass?" Reiko cheered loudly, and Nanashi grinned. "Well then, let's get going!"


	9. Genin Takedown! All Twelve Rookies Face Off!

As soon as Team Nine entered the Exam room, a small white puppy was jumping into Nanashi's arms. "Akamaru! Hey, buddy!" She giggled happily as the puppy lapped at her face, his human partner popping up next to her. "Hey, Kibbles."

"Hey, Nashi," Kiba replied, a huge grin stretched across his face. Been a while, hasn't it?" Nanashi passed Akamaru off to Reiko, who immediately snuggled her face into his fur. Kiba squeezed Nanashi into a bear hug as soon as she opened her arms to him. "What've you been up to?"

Nanashi shrugged dismissively as they released each other, "Eh, the usual boring D-ranks, mostly. Though we did get to go to Suna for a week! That was fun." She looked over his shoulder to where his teammates were, and quickly made her way over to them. "Hinata!" She pounced on her shy friend before the other girl had a chance to react, almost knocking them both to the ground. As they steadied themselves, Nanashi dropped her voice so no one could overhear them, "How's it goin' on the Naruto front?" The other girl turned bright red, shaking her head quickly. "Well, don't worry, you'll get there!"

She turned to the third, and final, member of Team Eight. "Hey, Shino!" She raised her fist out to him, but he didn't react. "Y… Y'bump it."

"Why?"

Nanashi shrugged, dropping her arm back down. "Nevermind."

She looked around the room again as Reiko and Kiba began talking animatedly. Emiko and Hinata started up their own conversation, albeit much quieter than the other two. Nanashi spotted Shikamaru standing nearby with his team, and she bounded over to him. When he noticed her, he flashed her a tired grin. "Hey, Nanashi, long time no see."

She quickly hugged him, beaming. "Hey! This is a fun little reunion, isn't it?" She greeted Ino and Choji with more hugs, "Shinji said he'll be one of the monitors for this one. Maybe he'll let us off a little easy."

The door suddenly opened and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura walked into the exam room, their eyes wide as they took in the crowded room. Ino squealed as she saw Sasuke, running over to him and jumping on his back. "Sasuke, where have you been~?" Nanashi hurried over to her best friend, ready to help him when he gave her the signal. "Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here! I've missed those brooding good looks of yours!" Nanashi bit back her laughter at the expression of pure irritation on Sasuke's face. Ino seemed oblivious to it.

Sakura growled angrily, "Hey, you porker, back off, he's mine!"

Ino got off of Sasuke's back, taunting Sakura. Nanashi rolled her eyes at the two girls as Shikamaru and Choji joined them. "Oh, it's you guys," Shikamaru said, "I knew this was gonna be a drag, but I didn't know it was gonna be _this_ lame."

"So, all three stooges are here!" Naruto chimed.

Shikamaru glared at him, "Hey, you know what, pipsqueak?! Ah, forget it… You're a waste of time..."

Choji stayed quiet, contentedly munching on a bag of chips as Team Eight approached them. "Well, well, what do you know?" Kiba exclaimed, "It looks like the whole gang's back together again."

"Oh… Hi, Naruto…" Hinata said from behind him, in an almost whisper. She blushed, fidgeting her fingers.

"You guys too, huh? Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing…" Shikamaru muttered.

"Yup!" Kiba replied, "Here we all are, the twelve rookies!" He laughed loudly, "This is gonna be fun! At least, for those of us that are good enough to make the cut," He looked at Sasuke, "Right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked, "Kiba. Careful you don't get overconfident."

As the chaos continued, a new voice cut in, "Hey, you guys!" Nanashi turned to the new arrival, raising an eyebrow as she recognized the person. "You might wanna try keeping it down a little. I mean, no offense, but you're the twelve rookies, right? Fresh out of the academy? I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip."

"Kabuto? You're still doing this thing?" Nanashi questioned. ' _This guy still gives me weird vibes…'_

"Well, who asked you?!" Ino asked rudely, interrupting his answer. "Who are you?!"

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi. But really, look around you." As the group did so, they saw everyone else's eyes on them, staring daggers. Nanashi spotted the Sand Siblings in the crowd and waved, earning two waves back. "You've made quite an impression." Kabuto looked pointedly at one team, "See those guys? They're from the rain village…" Nanashi tuned Kabuto out as he continued his unwarranted lecture.

"Kabuto. Is that your name?" Sakura asked. When he affirmed it, she continued, "This isn't the first time you've taken the exam?"

"No, it's… my seventh," Kabuto replied, a little sheepishly. At everyone's blank stares, he added, "Well, they're held twice a year, so this will be my fourth year."

"Wow, a veteran! You must really be an expert by now!"

"Yeah, an expert at _losing_ ," Nanashi said.

Kabuto ignored her, "Yeah, sort of."

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed, "You can give us all the inside tips!"

Shikamaru leaned toward Nanashi, muttering "Yeah, some expert. He's never passed!"

Kabuto scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, "Well, seventh time's the charm, that's what they say, huh?"

"So, I guess all of those rumors about the exam being tough are true… Oh man, I knew this was gonna be a drag…"

Kabuto reached into the pouch on his hip, "Hold on, maybe I can help you kids out a little." He pulled a deck of cards out, holding them up. "With my…" Nanashi mouthed along with him, "Ninja Info Cards."

Emiko raised an eyebrow in amusement at her teammate, "How do you know this guy, Nanashi?"

"Oh, his first attempt was the same one where Shinji became a Chunin." She shrugged casually. "We met when I brought Shinji food between the first and second exam."

Emiko nodded, satisfied with the answer, and they both turned back to the scene in front of them. Kabuto was kneeling on the ground, his cards in front of him as he demonstrated how to use them. Sasuke stepped forward, "Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates, individually?"

Kabuto smirked, "They might. You have someone special in mind?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "I might."

Nanashi rolled her eyes, moving to stand next to her best friend, "Be nice, Sassy."

"Well, I can't promise my information is complete or perfect," Kabuto said, evening out his cards, "But I've got something on just about everyone. Including you guys, of course. So, which one is it? Tell me anything you know about them. A description, where they're from, whatever. Anything at all."

"He's Gaara of the Desert." Nanashi perked up, looking at her friend in surprise, "And there's Rock Lee of the Leaf Village while you're at it."

Kabuto picked up the deck, "Man, that's no fun, you even know their names! That makes it easy…" The only sound heard as he prepared the information was Choji munching on his chips. Kabuto held up two cards, "Here they are."

"Show 'em to me." Sasuke demanded, earning another reprimand from Nanashi.

Kabuto went over the information on Rock Lee first, and Nanashi saw Hinata's eyes widen slightly at the mention of Neji's name. "Okay, now for Gaara of the Desert," Nanashi's attention was immediately drawn back to the cards, but it didn't last long as she became distracted again. She was pulled back, though, when she heard Kabuto's voice take on a tone of surprise, "But there is this… He survived every mission without getting a scratch on him."

"The dude's done a B-rank as a Genin and has never even been injured?!" Shikamaru asked, incredulously.

"What's the deal with this guy?!"

Kabuto set down another card, showing the distribution of candidates from each village. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound. From the looks of it, they've all sent exceptionally skilled candidates to the exam this time around. Of course, the Hidden Sound Village is small. It sprang up recently and no one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery." He put the used cards back in the deck. "Well, you get the point. The competition is going to be intense this year."

"So it would seem…" Hinata said, "It's almost enough to make you lose your confidence…"

"It's a fine time to start talking like that!" Ino yelled.

"Don't worry, Hinata!" Reiko beamed, giving her a thumbs up, "We're all gonna do great!"

"Do you really think it's gonna be tougher this time?" Sakura asked Kabuto.

"Oh yeah… In the four years I've been coming, I've never seen a crop of candidates with as much potential as this bunch. Yup, we've got our work cut out for us."

Nanashi watched Naruto as he became increasingly more worked up, waiting for the explosion that was bound to happen. Sakura, mistaking his excitement for nervousness, stepped forward, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry Naruto. We'll be fine!"

Naruto whirled around to face the other candidates, pointing, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat every one of ya! Buuuuuuh-leave it!"

Behind Nanashi, Ino and Sakura started yelling at each other.

"Tell your boyfriend to keep his big fat trap shut!"

"Who's boyfriend?!"

"Oh, I forgot, you can't get one!"

"Can you say that again a little louder?" Kiba asked Naruto sarcastically, "Didn't quite catch it."

"You moron, are you trying to get everybody in the place to hate our guts, or what?!" Shikamaru added.

Sakura quickly caught Naruto in a headlock, "Naruto, you jackass! Why'd you have to go and say something like that, you obnoxious little-" She cut herself off at the deadly glares from the other ninja. "Oh hi, everyone! Don't mind him, sometimes he says these spazzy things, he doesn't really mean them, they just kind of… come out!" She continued, trying to ease the tension.

As she continued to chew Naruto out, Nanashi noticed a blur of movement coming from inside the crowd. She made eye contact with Kankuro, who had also seen it. He started to take Crow off of his back, but Gaara held his arm out in front of him, stopping him from jumping in. Before Nanashi could warn everyone, though, a Sound ninja suddenly appeared, throwing kunai at Kabuto.

Another Sound ninja came out of nowhere in front of the silver-haired Leaf Genin, throwing a punch at him. Kabuto dodged, a cocky smirk growing on his face. Suddenly, his glasses shattered. "Oh, I get it… So it was that kind of attack."

As he took his glasses off, Sasuke stepped forward, "Hang on, I saw it all, he dodged the attack! How did that happen?!"

"It must have come closer than it looked…" Shikamaru answered, "Keh… Look at him acting like it was nothing. Real tough guy."

Kabuto's eyes suddenly widened, and he fell to his knees, vomiting. The Sound ninja squad stood in front of him, all looking smug as Naruto and Sakura rushed to Kabuto's side. The one that had thrown the punch chuckled, "Not such a tough guy after all, I guess… Maybe that's why he's on his seventh try."

"Write this one on your little card, punk!" The other boy said, "The Genin from the Sound Village will be Chunin when this is over. Guaranteed."

A cloud of smoke suddenly filled the front of the classroom as a loud voice boomed, "Alright, you baby-faced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up!" As the cloud dissipated, several Leaf ninja stood in front of the blackboard. Shinji stood among them. The exam proctor spoke again. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy."


	10. The First Exam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is both of the first exam episodes combined.

Chills ran through the entire crowd, eyes glued to the towering man in front of them. "First! You candidates from the Village Hidden in the Sound! Knock it off, who told you you could fight?! You wanna be failed before we've even begun?!"

The bandaged one turned to face the proctor, "Sorry. It's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy, _Sir_."

Ibiki 'hmph'ed, "I'll say this once, so listen up! There will be no combat between candidates. No attacking each other without permission of your proctor! And even then, use of fatal force is strictly prohibited! Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"

"No fatal force? That's no fun…" The spiky-haired Sound ninja said, earning chuckles from the moderators.

"Now, if we're ready," Ibiki continued, "We'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Hand over your paperwork. In return, you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

"The what..?" Naruto asked, confused, "Did he say… Written?"

"Whelp, I'm doomed." Nanashi shrugged. Kotetsu held up the test papers, smirking.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto dropped to his hands and knees, wailing in despair. "NOT A WRITTEN TEST, NO WAAAAAAAAAAY!"

* * *

Nanashi stood at her assigned seat, her hands placed on the desk in front of her. "Uncle Ibiki!"

The proctor immediately glared at her, "Don't call me that, I'm not your uncle! Now sit down and shut up before I fail you _and_ your teammates!"

Nanashi immediately dropped into her seat, "Shutting up, Sir." She heard movement as the person next to her sat down, and turned to see a familiar redhead, "Gaara! Hey!" She grinned sheepishly at Ibiki, who had shot her another warning glare. Kankuro and Temari shared nervous glances from their own seats.

" _She's gonna get herself killed if she doesn't leave him alone…"_ Kankuro muttered.

Nanashi looked around the room to see where everyone else was seated. The twins had been placed on opposite sides of the room; Reiko in the first seat of the front row, and Emiko in the last seat of the back row. She spotted Sasuke sitting two rows ahead of her, one section over, and Naruto and Hinata sat together several rows in front of her. "Nanashi!" She snapped to attention, wide eyed, "Pay attention! I'm explaining the rules!"

"Sorry, Sir!"

"As I was saying, you all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for each question you get wrong. So, if you miss three, your final score will be seven."

' _Well, I'm screwed.'_

"Rule Number Two. Teams will pass or fail based on the total scores of all three members."

' _Uh-oh.'_

"What?!" Sakura shouted, "Wait a second! You're saying we all get scored as a team?!"

"Silence! I have my reasons. So shut up and listen! Rule Number Three. The sentinels you see positioned around the room…"

Shinji raised a hand in greeting, "'Sup."

"...Are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. And for every incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprit's score. Be warned. Their eyes are extremely sharp, and if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored. Anyone fool enough to be caught cheating doesn't deserve to be here!"

"I've got my eye on you guys," Kotetsu said, smirking.

Shinji elbowed his friend, "Dude, don't be creepy."

Ibiki ignored them, continuing his speech, "If you want to be considered Shinobi, then show us what exceptional Shinobi you can be."

' _We may still have a chance, the twins will both do well…'_ Nanashi thought, chewing on her lip nervously.

Her small sliver of hope was crushed by Ibiki's next words, "One more thing! If any candidate should get a zero and fail the test, then the entire team fails."

"WHAT'D HE SAY?!"

"The final question won't be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have one hour total." He paused, and Nanashi could hear the clock on the wall ticking away, "Begin!"

Nanashi pulled her hair up into a ponytail. ' _Okay, Nanashi, you can do this!'_ She quickly skimmed the first question, ' _...I'll… come back to that one.'_

* * *

Half an hour later, Nanashi had only partially answered each question. ' _At least I got_ something _written down, though…'_ Her eyes narrowed in determination, ' _I gotta get serious! I can't fail this for my teammates!'_ She untied her forehead protector from her waist and secured it around her head, ' _Let's do this.'_

…

' _I have no idea how to do this.'_ She slumped down in her chair, her forehead protector falling down over her eyes, ' _And now I can't see.'_ As she readjusted it, she noticed that Gaara was doing something strange. She watched curiously as sand swirled around in his hand, forming an eye. ' _Neat.'_

A few minutes passed, and she decided that she was done. She started tearing off pieces of the margins, balling them up. She could feel eyes on her, and she looked up to see Gaara watching her out of the corner of his eye. She quickly glanced around the room to see that for the most part, everyone was still working. It seemed, though, that Gaara, Sasuke and Shikamaru were among the ones finished. Picking up one of the balls of paper, she quickly tossed it at Sasuke.

He tensed at the contact and she bit back laughter, flicking another one at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Shinji, Izumo, and Kotetsu shaking from suppressed laughter. After she ran out, she grinned as she admired her handiwork. Several pieces had managed to get stuck in Sasuke's hair, and the rest were littered around his desk. Before Nanashi could restock her supply, however, she noticed Ibiki staring her down. She quickly mouthed an apology, straightening up.

Two minutes had passed before Nanashi was leaning back again, her eyes closed. She had her feet propped up on the desk, leaning back on the back legs of the chair. Suddenly, "Nanashi! Wake the hell up!" Nanashi yelped, startling awake. The momentum sent her falling to the ground.

She groaned, rolling off of her chair. "I'm awake, Sir…"

"Get up, you idiot!" Ibiki looked like he was about to burst a vein.

She started to stand up, only to crack her head on the desk. She looked up sheepishly as Gaara glared at her, annoyed by all of the commotion. "Sorry…"

She pulled herself back into her chair, groaning as she rubbed at the red mark forming on her head. "C-Continue, please, Sir."

"Alright, listen up! Here's the tenth and final question!" Nanashi cracked her knuckles determinedly. "But, before I give you the question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of." He paused as Kankuro reentered the room, "Ah, made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening."

Nanashi shrugged one shoulder, "I mean, who doesn't?"

As Kankuro returned to his seat, Ibiki continued, "These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully, and try not to let them frighten you." He paused again to let his words sink in. "Very well, then. Rule Number One. Each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision."

"Whoa!" Temari spoke up, "So what's the catch?! Let's say we decide we don't wanna do it, what happens then?"

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail. And that means, of course, both your teammates fail as well." Murmurs of confusion filled the room as he continued to explain, "Not so fast. You didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question, but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail… You will be barred from taking the Chunin Exam ever again!"

Kiba jumped up, "Hey, that's bull, man! That's ridiculous! What kind of bogus rule is that?! There's lots of people here who have taken the test before!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Ibiki began to laugh, unnerving the Genin, "I guess you're just… unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course, if you don't wanna take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year. Now then, if you're ready. The tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand! Your number will be recorded, and then you're free to go."

As people began to filter out, Nanashi could see Sakura starting to raise her hand, and she knew exactly what was going through her mind, ' _Don't you dare, Sakura. Don't take this away from him before he has the chance…'_ Naruto raised his hand high in the air, ' _What..?'_

Suddenly, he slammed his hand down on his desk, standing up, "Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run!"

'That's _more like it, Naruto.'_

"You can act tough all you want, you guys aren't gonna scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage some day!"

Nanashi punched the air, whooping in sync with Shinji, "That a boy, Naruto!"

"Nanashi!" Ibiki scolded. Nanashi grinned, unfazed. "This decision is one that could change your life. If for any reason you would rather quit, now is your last chance."

Nanashi could feel the confidence radiating from her blond friend. "No way, I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja!"

Ibiki scanned the Genin, waiting to see if anyone else backed out, but no one did. The sentinels all nodded in silent agreement to continue. "Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do. And that's for me to tell you… That you've all passed the first exam!"

Silence filled the room, and then…

"YEAH!" Nanashi jumped up, knocking her chair over and earning another glare from Gaara in the process.

Sakura stood up soon after, "H-Hold on, what just happened?! What do you mean we passed?! Where's the tenth question?!"

Nanashi waved her hand dismissively, "Don't question it, Sakura, just go with it."

Ibiki laughed, a wide grin growing on his face, "There never was one! Not a written one at least! Actually, your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question!"

"Wait a second!" Temari cut in, "So the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time! Is that what you're saying?!"

"No, no, not at all! Quite the opposite. The first nine questions had an overriding purpose. To test your abilities to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances."

"Oh, well that clears up _everything_ ," Temari said sarcastically.

"Let me explain. You see, my objective was to test you not only as individuals, but as a team. And on how well you function as a _part_ of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis. So you'd know that everything you did, or failed to do, would directly affect your teammates. I wanted to see how you'd handle the pressure."

Naruto nodded, looking smug. "Mmhm! Yeah, I figured it was something like that, that's why I kept my cool."

Nanashi let out a short laugh as she sat on her desk, "Yeah, sure ya did, buddy."

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact, as you may have realized, _too_ difficult for any Genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you quickly came to that conclusion that you'd have to cheat if you had any chance of passing. The fact is, the test was designed to encourage cheating. It almost demanded it."

Nanashi's eyebrow twitched, "Hey, that's no fair! The twins have their mind-meld, or whatever, but I'm hung out to dry over here!"

Ibiki ignored her, "Of course, it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from, so I disguised two Chunin who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you."

Naruto laughed, "Oh, c'mon! I wasn't fooled for a second! You had to be a complete doofus not to see it!" He turned to Hinata, grinning, "Isn't that right, Hinata?" Nanashi watched the two with a mix of amazement over Naruto's stupidity, and fondness of her two friends.

"Those who were caught at it failed. Better not to cheat, than to cheat clumsily." Ibiki continued, reaching up to untie his forehead protector. He pulled it off of his head, and everyone stared in silent horror at the sight of him, "Information. It can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether a mission is a failure, or a success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it!"

"Man, what a mess…" Sasuke said, "Scars and puncture wounds… Burn marks… What he must've endured…" Nanashi nodded solemnly, and Naruto swallowed hard.

"Of course, you must always consider the source of your information." Ibiki resecured his forehead protector. "Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bear this in mind." As he continued his lecture, even Nanashi kept her full attention on him. "There will be many missions that will seem almost suicidal, if you think about it. But you do not think about it. You think only of the goal, achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a Chunin squad leader. Those who choose the safer of two paths, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades' lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own. Those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor will never be able to call themselves Chunin! At least as long as I'm here. As for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the ten questions I put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this part of the Chunin Selection Exam completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."

Naruto jumped up again, "Alright! We did it, that's one down!" As he continued to make a scene, something crashed through the window at the front of the room. Naruto's eyes widened as the new arrival turned to address the room. "Is this… Part of the test?"

"Heads up, boys and girls!" A woman now stood in front of Ibiki, a large banner completely blocking him from view behind her. "This is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor! Anko Mitarashi! You ready for the second test? Good! Then let's go, follow me!"

Nanashi grinned, "Anko! Right on time! You did bring me food, right? I'm starvin'."

Before Anko could answer her, however, Ibiki poked his head around the side of the banner, "You're early. Again." Anko blushed in embarrassment.

She looked around the room, frowning. "How many are there? Ibiki, you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft."

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year."

Nanashi shook her head, "Nah, Anko's right, you're getting soft."

Ibiki glared at her, "Hey! I can still kick you out, don't test me!" Nanashi just shrugged.

Anko 'hmm'ed, "They sure don't look it… Trust me, before I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated."

"Huh?!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise, "More than half, really?!"

Anko chuckled, "This is gonna be fun… You maggots have had it easy so far, but things are gonna be different starting first thing in the morning! I'll let your squad leaders know where to meet me. Dismissed~!"

Nanashi hopped off of her desk, stretching. "Finally!" She turned to Gaara, beaming, "Wanna go get something to eat before we head home?"

Sasuke walked up to Nanashi, "Is food all you ever think about?"

"Nah, sometimes I think about sleep." Sasuke shook his head in despair, walking off again. "Oh, okay, bye Sassy! See you tomorrow!" Kankuro, Temari, and the twins joined her and Gaara as they waited for the remaining Genin to dissipate. "Ichiraku time?"

"Yeah!" Kankuro cheered, "I'm dyin' for something to eat right now."

Reiko jumped on Kankuro's back, surprising him, "Onward!"

"What are you doing? Get off!"

Nanashi and Emiko exchanged looks of amusement as Reiko just clung on tighter, "I'm tired, carry me."

Nanashi turned to Temari, a grin stretching across her face. As soon as she noticed, Temari shook her head rapidly, "Oh no, forget it, nuh-uh! You're walking!" Nanashi pouted.

They made their way to Ichiraku, and Kankuro was finally able to shake the hyperactive pinkette off of him a few minutes into the journey. He fell in step with Nanashi, speaking in a low voice, "You know… You should really be careful around Gaara… I was genuinely worried he'd get annoyed with you and wind up hurting you."

Nanashi looked up at him curiously, "Why? It never even crossed my mind."

"Yeah, but you don't know what I know. He's dangerous…"

Nanashi looked over her shoulder at the redhead trailing behind the group, "I mean, yeah, I know he is. That comes with being a Shinobi."

Kankuro bonked her lightly on the head with the heel of his hand, "You don't listen, do you, Shortstack? It's a different kind of dangerous."

Nanashi smiled softly, looking down at her feet, "I know you mean well with this, Kuro, but… According to Dad, Mom always said, ' _Don't let the opinions of others stop you from seeing someone as they truly are.'_ She looked back up, her eyes meeting Kankuro's. "I never knew my mom, but I know she would want me to keep that in mind."

They fell into a peaceful silence as they continued on their path. Nanashi soon fell back to walk next to Gaara, turning her gaze up to the sky to watch as the sun set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, just as a note: When Reiko jumps on Kankuro's back, he doesn't have Crow on his back. None of the Sand Siblings had anything on their backs during the exam, and they hadn't gone to collect their things yet.


	11. The Chunin Exam Stage Two: The Forest of Death!

Nanashi slumped to the ground the second she made it to the meeting place for the exam. She laid down and closed her eyes, ready for sleep to claim her, but she soon felt a presence looming over her. She cracked one eye open, grinning, "Hey, Sassy! Join me!"

All of the rookies - plus Lee, Neji, and Tenten - had gathered around where she collapsed. Sasuke sat in the grass beside her. Reiko and Emiko followed suit, though Emiko already looked dead on her feet to begin with. Sasuke looked over at the teal-haired girl. "You're not a morning person, are you?" Emiko just blinked sleepily in response. Sasuke turned back to Nanashi, "So, what's the deal with you and all these people I never knew you knew?"

Nanashi cocked her head as she tried to register what he was asking. "Oh! Well, I met Gaara, Kuro, and Mari on that mission to Suna I told you about. I know Lee, Tenten, and the Hyuga jerk through Uncle Guy - Guy and Lee are helping me with Taijutsu. Ibiki and Anko I know because of Dad." She sat up, stretching her arms out in front of her. "And as for Kabuto, he's really just an acquaintance. I met him a few years back, but we barely know each other." She glanced over to where the silver-haired ninja stood with his team, lowering her voice, "To be honest, he kinda freaks me out. Something seems a little off..."

Before they could continue their conversation, Anko arrived. Sasuke stood up, the twins following suit. He held his hand out to Nanashi, hauling her up onto her feet when she took hold of it.

Sakura clasped her hands together in front of her chest, her eyes wide with fear as she took in the sight of the place they would be holding their exam. "This whole place just completely creeps me out!"

Anko smirked, "It should! They call it the Forest of Death, and soon enough you're gonna find out why."

Naruto huffed, putting his hands on his hips. His voice took on a mocking tone as he did a weird dance, " _They call it the Forest of Death and soon enough you're gonna find out why_! Do your worst, you're not gonna scare me away! I can handle anything!"

Anko's smirk turned into a fake smile as she tilted her head, "So… looks like we've got ourselves a tough guy." Suddenly, she threw a kunai at him, catching his cheek and drawing blood. She disappeared, reappearing directly behind him. "You tough enough to handle this? You're not afraid, are you?" Nanashi watched the exchange in amusement as Anko turned Naruto's head, "Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest." Just as she wiped some off of his cheek with her finger, she whipped around, pulling out another kunai. Nanashi couldn't repress the shudder that wracked her body as a long tongue extended toward the Jonin, holding the kunai she had just thrown.

A Grass ninja stood right behind her. "I was… just returning your knife."

"Why thank you, Grass ninja," Anko replied in a falsely sweet voice. "Y'know… I really only recommend you stand this close behind me… If you wish to reach a premature end." She took the knife back and the woman's tongue retracted back into her mouth.

"My pardon. With the sight of blood, and your blade slicing through my hair, I'm afraid that I just became a little excited. I meant you no harm."

' _Jeez, this one is creepy…'_

Anko watched as the Grass ninja walked away, "Likewise…" As Naruto attempted to stretch his own tongue out behind her, Anko smirked, addressing Nanashi, "Seems like everyone here today is quick-tempered. There must be something in the air. This is gonna be fun!"

Nanashi grinned, nodding. "We gonna get this party started or what?"

"Good idea!" Anko turned and walked toward the fence. "Now, before we begin this test, I have something to hand out to you all." As she spoke, Nanashi wandered off toward the Sand Siblings. Kankuro waved in greeting, but stayed silent as he listened to the proctor. She was holding up a stack of papers. "Just a standard consent form. Before the test, all of you are going to have to read over this form, and then sign it."

"What for?" Naruto asked.

"Some of you may not come back from this test! And I have to get your consent to that risk. Otherwise, it would be my responsibility!"

Nanashi held out one hand, motioning for Anko to give her one, "Give it here, I got nothin' to lose."

"Now, I'll explain what you'll be doing on this test. Here," She held the stack out to Naruto, who took it from her. "Pass these out. The first thing you need to know is that this test will tax every one of your survival skills. First," She held up a scroll, unraveling it, "I'll give you all a description of the terrain on the practice field. The forty-fourth battle training zone has forty-four locked entrances gates." As Anko continued to talk, Nanashi signalled for Kankuro to turn around. Once he did, she pressed her waiver into his shoulder, using him as a surface to write on. "There are rivers and a forest inside. In the center is a locked tower, located ten kilometers from each gate. It's in this confined area that you'll undergo the survival test. The test consists of..." She pocketed the scroll again, "An anything goes battle! To get your hands on these scrolls." She held up two more scrolls, both sealed. One was white with the kanji for ' _heaven_ ', the other was black with the kanji for ' _earth_ '.

"Both of them?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. You'll be fighting to get both a heaven scroll and an earth scroll. Altogether, twenty-six teams will be taking part in this, so half of those teams will be going after the heaven scroll, and the other half will be trying to get the earth scroll. I'll hand over one kind of scroll to each team, and that's what you'll be vying for."

"Okay…" Sasuke said, "So how do we pass the test?"

"Your entire squad must bring both a heaven and earth scroll to the tower."

Sakura spoke up, "That means, at the very best, half of us will fail! More if not every team is able to get both the scrolls."

"No one ever said it would be easy. Oh, and one more thing. The test has a time limit. You must finish it within five days."

"Five days out there?!" Ino whined.

"What are we supposed to do for food?!" Choji exclaimed.

"Just look around! The forest is full of things to eat. There's plenty to feed all of you."

"Yeah, but…" Kabuto interjected, "That's not all the forest has plenty of. There are man-eating beasts and poisonous plants in there."

"Oh maaaaan!" Choji complained.

"Quiet down!" Ino nagged her teammate, "This is why they call it survival, you know?"

"That means," Neji added, "With these circumstances, there's no way half the teams will pass the test."

Lee continued for him, "With the days getting longer, the nights are getting shorter, so we will have less time to sleep and less time to recover. It is a challenge, indeed!"

Sasuke and Nanashi shared a glance, determination written on their faces, "Completely surrounded by enemies. There won't be time to rest, we'll have to keep a constant watch."

"Right!" Anko confirmed, "This test also measures endurance behind enemy lines! This is designed to be a grueling test, and I'm sure some of you won't be up to the challenge!"

Shikamaru raised his hand, "So, um, let's say mid-exam. Can we quit?"

Anko glared at him, "Of course not! In the middle of a battle, you can't say 'Sorry, I quit'! Well, I guess you could, but it's probably gonna get you killed."

"Oh, just great… This is gonna be a drag..."

"There are also some ways you can get disqualified. The first is simple. If all three members of the team can't make it to the tower with both scrolls after five days. Number Two. If a team loses a member, or if a member becomes incapacitated and cannot continue. But most important, none of you - absolutely none of you - may look at the contents of the scrolls until you've reached the tower!"

"W-What if it just happens to flap open and you read it?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Let me put it to you this way, young man. You. Don't. Want. To. Know." Naruto just groaned in exasperation. "There are times when a ninja will be asked to carry secret documents. The scroll rule is to test your integrity. Okay, we're done. Each team, take your consent forms and exchange them over there for your scrolls. After that, each team pick a gate, and you'll be let inside." Anko sighed, "Oh, and I have one more word of advice. Just don't die!"

"Great pep talk…" Nanashi muttered under her breath, earning chuckles from Temari and Kankuro.

Kankuro patted her on the head, "You ready for this, Shortstack? Think you can handle it?"

Nanashi tried to glare at him, but she couldn't keep the smile off of her face, "Can you?"

Before he could counter, he was interrupted by Sakura and Ino screaming at each other nearby. Nanashi sighed in frustration, shaking her head. Kankuro raised an eyebrow, casting a glance in the direction of the two girls. "Do they ever shut up?"

"I'll let you know when I find out…" She looked around, spotting Hinata standing by a tree. Then she noticed Naruto walking toward to the shy girl. "...'Scuse me, I gotta see this firsthand… Good luck out there! Stay safe, okay?" She gave him a tight hug, before doing the same to Temari. "You too, Mari. I better see you at that tower!"

Temari smiled fondly at the younger girl, "You know you will, dear."

Nanashi turned to her third companion. She paused for a moment before breaking into a wide smile and extending her hand to him. "Good luck to you, too, Gaara. Though, I doubt you'll really need it!" Gaara studied her suspiciously, before letting his gaze drift to her outstretched hand. He shook her hand briefly, nodding his head once.

She released his hand, walking over to where Hinata was. As she left, she heard Kankuro muttering to Temari, "So, does that mean she thinks _we_ will? Rude."

Nanashi stopped next to Hinata, beaming as the other girl noticed her. "'Sup?"

Before Hinata could even answer, Naruto had finally looked up from the paper in his hand. "Huh? What are you guys doing all the way out here?!" He called, causing Hinata to turn around, blushing.

"Oh! N-Naruto!" Hinata responded quietly, before turning her gaze away and blushing even harder. Nanashi couldn't fight the grin permanently etched onto her face as she watched her two friends. "I, um, I just… Nothing!" Naruto's expression turned to one of confusion. "I…" She gasped as she noticed the cut on the blond's cheek. "Oh, you're cut!"

As Hinata searched her pockets for something quickly, Nanashi acknowledged Naruto. "Hey, Mr. Whiskers! Don't die out there, you got that? My advice, avoid the giant snakes."

Naruto laughed loudly, putting his hands on his hips. "You have nothin' to worry about with me! I'll ace this test!"

"Here, I have…" Just as Hinata found what she was looking for, Naruto started walking off. "This!"

"Well, anyway, see ya later!" He raised his hand, never looking back.

Hinata hung her head as Nanashi winced, "Ouch…" She patted Hinata on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Hinata. You'll get plenty of chances to give it to him later."

"Yeah…"

"Alright, everyone!" One of the Chunin had poked his head out from behind the curtain hiding the scroll table, "We're gonna start handing out scrolls!"

Nanashi met the twins at the table, where they exchanged their papers for a heaven scroll before making their way over to a nearby gate. Reiko looked around discreetly, before nodding her head in the direction of another group. Emiko nodded in understanding, and they walked off, leaving Nanashi standing alone and confused.

While she waited for her teammates to return, Sasuke approached her. "Hey. You alright?"

Nanashi beamed, "Yeah! Rei and Emi just ditched me, though." Her expression turned serious. "Be careful out there, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded, "You too."

As the twins rejoined them, Nanashi and Sasuke fist-bumped, speaking in unison. "Good luck."

Sasuke left to find his own teammates, and the gates opened soon after.

* * *

"So…" Nanashi began, interrupting the silence. "Where'd you two go off to?"

Reiko shrugged, a falsely innocent look on her face, "Oh, just to chat with a few Waterfall ninja."

On Nanashi's other side, Emiko was casually twirling an earth scroll between her fingers.


	12. The Second Exam Continues

“Are you _kidding_ me? We aren’t even ten minutes in!” Reiko stood above Nanashi, one hand on her hip and the other pressed against her temple. Emiko stood next to her, her arms crossed over her chest. Nanashi groaned, lifting her face from the dirt. “Come on, let’s get you patched up…”

Reiko fished through the pouch strapped to her hip, pulling out some bandages. She quickly applied some healing ointment to the fresh cut on her clumsy teammate’s cheek before putting a bandage over it. “This time, keep a lookout for surprise tree roots, okay?”

“‘Kay.” They got to their feet, and Nanashi stretched her arms out over her head. She looked around the area they had stopped in. “...Where are we?”

Emiko rolled her eyes, “Let’s keep moving. We’ve got both scrolls, we just have to get to the tower without any conflicts.”

“Right!” The other two girls said simultaneously.

* * *

 A blood-curdling scream stopped Squad Nine in their tracks. Wide-eyed, Reiko turned to her teammates, “M-Maybe we should go a different way…”

Nanashi shook her head. “The fastest path is a straight line, Rei. We can stop and take a break, though!” She ran ahead of the twins, skidding to a stop again when she broke into a clearing. Before she could even register that there was someone else there, something had wrapped around her ankle. She looked down at her feet just in time to see a rope of sand pull her leg out from under her.

She cried out in pain as she hit the ground hard and was pulled forward violently. She could feel something in her ankle snap. “Let her go, Gaara! It’s Nanashi!”

The sand was gone in an instant. Nanashi groaned, rolling onto her side and pulling her knees up to her chest. “What the hell was that all about..?”

Kankuro and Temari rushed to their friend’s aid, helping her up as they apologized profusely. Kankuro let her lean against him as they checked her over. Temari looked over her shoulder at her youngest brother. “I think you broke her ankle!"

Nanashi laughed softly, shaking her head. “It isn’t his fault… I shouldn’t have just burst in like that…”

Kankuro started to take Crow off of his back, “Let me carry you to the tower, you can’t walk like this.”

“No!” Nanashi shook her head quickly, “No, no. I have to make it there on my own. I won’t be the reason my friends can’t take part in the exam.”

“Screw the exam!” Everyone turned to Emiko, surprised that she’d raised her voice. “You’re hurt. We can always try again next time. I will not let you suffer just so we can take a lousy test!”

“Yeah!” Reiko added, “Besides, I don’t want to continue without you! You know Koukatsu-sensei will make you drop out if you’re badly injured!”

Nanashi rolled her eyes, “It’s not that bad, I can still walk!” She took one step on her hurt foot and collapsed to the ground. “...It’ll just take a while.”

Kankuro sighed in frustration, “Alright, that’s it.” He bent down and picked the stubborn girl up, throwing her over his shoulder. “Let’s go.” Nanashi started to flail in an attempt to make him put her down. “Stay still! You’ll just hurt yourself even more if I drop you!”

* * *

 Nanashi put her chin in her hand, her elbow pressed into Kankuro’s back to keep her head up as she talked to the other girls. She kept a mental note of the fact that her teammates were keeping their distance from Gaara, and that they kept casting nervous glances at him.

She turned her gaze to the redhead, “You know…” He glanced at her, but didn’t give any other sign of acknowledgement, “I really don’t blame you for this. It was all my fault. This is a tense stage of the exam, I should have paid more attention!” She gave him a soft smile, “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

He didn’t say anything, but his siblings immediately chastised her. “Don’t you dare blame yourself!” Temari scolded.

“You’re an idiot. How could this have been your fault? You couldn’t have known we were there.” Kankuro tightened his grip on her briefly, before coming to a complete stop. “Hang on…” He sat her down gently in the grass.

As he was pulling Crow off of his back, Nanashi placed her hand on her injured ankle. “...What are you doing?” Temari asked, raising an eyebrow.

“When I was a kid, Sasuke and I would injure ourselves all the time, so I learned how to heal things like small scrapes and twisted ankles. It really came in handy, you know!” Nanashi explained.

“Okay, but that isn’t twisted,” Emiko replied, “That’s _broken_.”

“How do you know?” Nanashi challenged, a slight pout forming as she continued to work.

Kankuro rolled his eyes, turning his attention to the twins. “Would one of you be able to carry Crow? I swear it isn’t as heavy as it looks!”

Reiko nodded immediately, “Whatever I can do to help!”

She lifted the puppet onto her back with only a little difficulty as Kankuro knelt in front of Nanashi, his back to her. “Get on. It’ll be easier like this.”

Nanashi huffed indignantly, but she did as she was told. “Fine… I just want to get out of this place and get something to eat!”

* * *

 They were met by Shinji at the door to the tower. “Nanashi, you idiot!”

Nanashi stirred from her sleep, lifting her head off of Kankuro’s shoulder, “Wha..?” She blinked tiredly as her brother’s face came into focus. “Oh hey, Shin…” She yawned, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, “What are you doing here?”

“You had it! You were going to have a record-time arrival!” Shinji was fuming, “And you go and get yourself hurt so you have to be disqualified!”

Nanashi dropped her head back onto Kankuro’s shoulder, “Keep it down, I’m sleepy…”

“I will not--!”

“Shinji, calm down.” Nanashi lifted her head again slightly, and she smiled sleepily when she saw her dad walking over to them. “Yes, I agree that that was… well, a Nanashi thing to do.” She pouted. “But she’s alive, and that’s what matters.” She felt herself being lifted off of her friend’s back as Koukatsu took her from him. “Let’s give her some time to recover before we give her hell for this, okay?”

Still simmering a little, Shinji ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah… Yeah, sure, alright.” He turned to Kankuro and Temari, sighing heavily. “Thanks for taking care of her. And for bringing her here.”

Koukatsu shifted his daughter in his arms. “I’m gonna take her to the medics here. Unfortunately, though, this does mean you won’t be able to continue, girls. If you want me to, I’ll send someone to take you home, but I know Nanashi is going to want to stay here to see who makes it to the next round. Despite her injuries.” He started to walk off, but stopped and turned to the Sand Siblings, “Oh! And congrats on making it here so quickly! It’s a new record!”

* * *

 “Nanashi, are you alright?!”

The girl’s eyes opened slowly, “Hmm..?” She finally registered the boy standing over her, “Oh! Kibbles and Bits!” Akamaru barked in acknowledgement, but his human partner still had a look of alarmed concern. “I’m fine, Kibbles, what’s going on?”

“We saw everything! I can’t believe that guy hurt you like that!” As she sat up, he took the space that freed up beside her. “Are you still taking part in the exams?”

Nanashi shook her head, her expression turning sad, “No, we got disqualified because I had to be carried here… I feel terrible for causing Reiko and Emiko to drop out…”

Kiba patted her on the knee, “I’m sure they understand, Nashi. Besides, you would have done the same for them.”

“Yeah… Thanks, Kiba. So, I see you made it here in one piece! How are Hinata and Shino?” Nanashi stretched her arms over her head, smiling.

They surged into an enthusiastic conversation as Kiba gave her a play-by-play of their encounter with a team from the Rain Village.

* * *

 “That’s it! I am getting _up_ , I am getting _out_ , and no one can stop me!” Nanashi threw her blanket off of her, sitting up. She carefully raised herself up until she was standing steadily on both feet, sighing in relief when she didn’t collapse. Staying as quiet as she possibly could, she started limping toward where she was told a kitchen was.

She was stopped in her tracks by a quiet voice. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Nanashi spun around in surprise, “How long have you been standing there, Gaara?” Her companion didn’t answer. “ Well… I got hungry, so I was gonna go get something to eat.” She smiled sheepishly, “Do you want to join me?”

“Sit down. You’re injured.”

Nanashi turned to look in the direction of the kitchen longingly, _‘But food…’_

Sighing, she gave in. She carefully made her way back to the couch, sitting down and pulling her injured leg up onto the seat beside her. “ _Fiiiiiine_.”

Gaara left without another word, and Nanashi was about to stand up again when Lee suddenly burst into the room. “Nanashi! I heard that you had gotten injured!” Nanashi winced at the volume of his voice. He had tears streaming down his face, “Do not tell me that you cannot continue, I will not allow it!”

“Lee, calm down!” Nanashi shushed him, “It’s alright, man, I just hurt my ankle. But I’ve been disqualified since I couldn’t make it here on my own. Don’t worry, though! There’s always next time!”

Nanashi could almost see the flames burning in Lee’s eyes. “Yes! We must stay positive!”

As her loud friend continued to jump around the room, Kankuro came in with a bowl of snacks. Holding it out to Nanashi, he grinned, “I was told you wanted food.”

Nanashi’s eyes brightened, and she immediately reached out for it. “Hey, thanks, Kuro!”

* * *

 Squad Seven had finally arrived minutes before the cut-off, and all the Genin were called to a room on the ground floor of the tower. As they waited for their next instructions, Nanashi walked over to Sasuke. “Sassy!”

“Hey, Nanashi…” Sasuke muttered in return.

She frowned when she noticed that he was gripping his shoulder. “Sasuke, what happened? Are you hurt?” She gently placed her hand on his arm. “Do you need me to look at it?”

Sasuke shook his head, covering her hand with his own to stop her. “I’m fine, I just need a bit of rest.” Nanashi hugged him carefully, and he returned it with his uninjured arm.

Naruto bounded over to them as Nanashi released Sasuke, “Nanashi! You made it too!” He looked around, an expression of confusion slowly growing on his face. “Where are Reiko and Emiko?”

Nanashi laughed sheepishly, “Ah, yeah, about that…”

Before she could continue, the Hokage cleared his throat before speaking, “Everyone! Line up in your respective squads!” They all did as told immediately, and Nanashi quickly moved off to the side. “Now. Before I can continue, there is a matter that needs to be addressed. Squad Nine, though they did make it here in the allotted time period, has been disqualified. This is due to the fact that one of them,” Nanashi waved in acknowledgement, “Was injured to the point of incapacitation, breaking one of the rules explained at the beginning of the exam.”

All three members of Squad Seven responded at the same time. “WHAT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >.> *casually makes it so I don't have to make up fight scenes*


	13. The Preliminary Rounds Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's just the Hokage and Hayate talking about the exams, basically. Feel free to ignore this one, the real action starts in the next chapter!

“What do you mean they’re disqualified?!” Naruto cried out, “They made it here in one piece, didn’t they?!”

Sasuke, on the other hand, had turned his focus to Nanashi, “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you got hurt?!” Nanashi just shrugged, grinning sheepishly, “You’re worried about me and yet you were hurt badly enough that you couldn’t make it here on your own?” 

Nanashi started to try to explain herself, but Anko cut her off, shouting, “Save it for later! We have to continue!” The three Genin fell silent immediately. “Now. Congratulations to all of you that passed the second exam! Alright, now pay attention, Lord Hokage is going to explain the third exam to you! You better listen carefully, maggots!” She turned to the Hokage, bowing her head respectfully, “Lord Hokage, they’re all yours.”

He stepped forward, clearing his throat. “First, before I tell you what the third exam entails, I want to explain something about the test itself. Listen closely, now. It’s something that all of you need to understand. I’m going to tell you the _true_ purpose of these exams. Why do you suppose our country holds these exams in conjunction with our allies?” His only response was Naruto making an ‘ _I don’t know_ ’ sound. “To raise the ability levels of the Shinobi and increase friendship between allied nations, to be sure. But it’s important that you understand its true meaning. The exams are, so to speak…” He paused to take a puff from his pipe, “They’re a representation of the battle between allied nations.” 

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Tenten questioned. 

“Now,” The Hokage continued, “If we look at our history, all the countries that we’re currently allied with were once neighboring nations that continuously fought with each other for power. In order to avoid destroying each other’s military strength meaninglessly, those nations picked champions to do battle on behalf of their countries at a mutually selected location. That was how the Chunin Selection Exams originally began.” 

“Well, that’s great, but why do we have to go through these exams, then?” Naruto asked. “I mean, it’s not like we’re doing this to pick Chunin to go fight.”

“Well, actually, there is no question that part of the point of these exams is to select Shinobi worthy of becoming Chunin. That’s just not the whole story. These exams also allow for a place where a Shinobi can carry the pride of their nation on their backs, and fight against other ninja for their very lives!”

“The pride of their nation..?” Sakura repeated quietly.

“Many leaders and people of prominence from various countries are invited to attend this exam as guests, and also possibly to seek Shinobi to work for them. This exam could determine the course of your ninja work from here on out. And more importantly, those rulers will watch your battles and take note of the strengths that each ninja and each nation is developing. If there is a gap in power between the countries, the strong nations are inundated with job requests for their ninja. And conversely, requests to countries that are deemed weak decline. The stronger our nation is, the better our position when it comes to negotiating with neighboring countries. So it’s important to show how much military strength our village has.”

“Okay, but even so, why is it necessary for us to risk our lives?” Kiba asked.

“The country’s strength is the village’s strength. The village’s strength is the Shinobi’s strength. And the true strength of the Shinobi is only achieved when it’s pushed to its limits, such as in a life and death battle. This exam is a chance for each nation to display the strength of its Shinobi, and hence, the strength of the nation itself. It’s because this is an exam where your life is on the line that it has meaning! And it’s for this very reason and for the strength of the nation that your forerunners fought in this exam! It’s truly a dream worth striving for!”

Tenten interrupted him with yet another question, “But then why did you use the expression, ‘friendship’, before?”

“You’ve only remembered half of what I said! You also mustn’t have the wrong idea of the exam’s meaning. This is a custom in which balance is preserved by fighting and dying. In the world of the Shinobi, that _is_ friendship. The third exam is a fight for life with the pride of your village and your own dreams at stake!”

Naruto ‘hmph’ed. “Well, he sure convinced me!”

“Any test is fine,” Nanashi turned to Gaara in surprise when he spoke up, “Just tell me what the details of the exam are already. I can handle anything you throw at me.”

“Very well, then!” The Hokage replied, “Now listen closely, I’m going to tell you exactly what you’ll all be doing on the third exam!” He paused to cough into his hand, but before he could continue, another Shinobi appeared in front of him, kneeling.

“Lord Hokage. Before you do, please allow me, Hayate Gekko - Appointed as proctor of the third exam - to speak first.”

“So be it.”

Hayate stood, “It’s nice to meet you all.” He turned to face the Genin, coughing. “There’s something I would like all of you to do before the third exam.” He fell into another coughing fit, causing various expressions of concern to grow on everyone’s face. “Uh… We have to have a preliminary exam before we can move on to the real one.”

“A what?” Sakura asked softly.

“Preliminary?!” Shikamaru shouted, “Just what do you mean by that?!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Sakura continued, “Sensei, excuse me, but I really don’t see the point. What’s this preliminary all about? Why can’t we just move on to the third exam?”

 _‘If you would just_ wait, _you guys, he would have explained it by now…’_ Nanashi thought, frowning. 

“Uh… Well, you see…” Hayate replied, “The first and second exams might have been too easy… The fact is, we never expected so many of you to still be here. According to the rules of the Chunin Exams, a preliminary round can be held at any stage. In order to reduce the number of candidates remaining.”

“But… Is that fair?!”

“It’s just that at this stage, we have to speed things up a bit. As Lord Hokage said, a lot of important guests will be watching. We can’t afford to waste their time. They’ve come to see only the best,” Hayate stated. “So if there are any of you who feel like you’re not in top physical condition, now is your chance to--” He interrupted himself with another coughing fit. “Sorry about that… As I was saying, any of you who don’t feel up to this, now is the time for you to bow out. The preliminaries will be starting immediately.” 

“Come on!” Kiba exclaimed angrily, “You mean right now?!” 

“We just finished barely surviving the last exam, don’t we get a break?!” Ino whined. 

“Man, what a drag…” 

“When do we eat..?” 

“Oh yeah...” Hayate muttered, “The winners will be determined by one-on-one combat, sudden death. So, like I said, if anyone doesn’t feel up to it, now’s the time to raise your hand.

After a moment of suspenseful silence, Kabuto suddenly raised his hand. “Okay, you got me! I’m out!” 

“But… Kabuto..?” Naruto muttered in surprise. 

Hayate turned a few pages on the clipboard he had in his hand, searching for something. “Um… Kabuto Yakushi of the Leaf Village, right? Okay, you can go on and step back.” 

As Kabuto started to walk off, Naruto turned around to him, “Kabuto! Hold on a second, you can’t quit! I don’t get this, what’s going on?!” 

Kabuto turned back to look at the blond, “Oh, Naruto, I’m sorry, but my body’s just too beat up. I can’t hack it. The fact is, ever since orientation and that dust-up with the Sound Village team, I’ve had no hearing at all in my left ear. And now to put my life on the line. To fight again, right away without a break. I can’t do it.” Naruto hung his head in sorrow, and Kabuto fell into a whispered conversation with his teammate. He waved to Naruto with a smile before leaving for good.

Hayate coughed into his hand, “Now then… Does anybody else wanna quit?” He paused to give them a chance to raise their hand, “Alright then, we’ll now begin the preliminary round. This round will consist of one-on-one individual combat, at full battle intensity. This is not an exercise. There are twenty of you remaining, so that means we will need ten matches. The surviving candidates from these ten matches will advance to the third exam. As for the rules, there are none. You will fight until one dies, or concedes defeat, or is rendered physically incapable of continuing the contest. Naturally, those who are losing are urged to concede defeat promptly to avoid a fatal outcome. Furthermore, as proctor, I’m given a certain amount of leeway in judging the matches. I might occasionally intervene if a match seems hopeless to save as many lives as possible. Now it’s time to reveal what fate has been chosen for you.”

He nodded to Anko, who returned it before speaking into the headset she wore, “Open the panel.” A panel on the wall that Nanashi hadn’t noticed before opened slowly, revealing a screen behind it.

“The names of each pair of opponents are chosen completely at random. Before each match, these names will appear on the display behind me. As there’s nothing more to say, let’s begin. In a moment, the names of the first two opponents will appear.”

The screen flashed yellow a few times, before two names appeared.

**Yoroi Akado vs Sasuke Uchiha**

Nanashi’s eyes widened, and she turned to look at Sasuke in surprise, _‘Seriously, right off the bat?’_ The look Sasuke gave her told her that he was thinking the same thing. The only difference was that he looked excited about it. She frowned in concern when he suddenly winced, gripping his shoulder.

“Alright now,” Hayate spoke up again, “Those whose names have been drawn, come forward.” Sasuke and Yoroi stepped up. “You have been chosen for the first match. Yoroi Akado and Sasuke Uchiha. Are there any objections?”

Sasuke answered immediately, “None here.”

“No,” Yoroi followed suit.

“Uh… Alright then, let’s begin the first match. Okay, everyone other than the two opposing candidates will now clear the area and move to the upper level.”

As the others started making their way up, Nanashi approached Sasuke with a wide grin, fist-bumping him. “Good luck, Sasuke. Kick his ass for me, he looks like a jerk.”

Sasuke smirked, “You got it.”

“Miss Yamamoto,” Hayate addressed the girl. “I can arrange for someone to take you---”

Nanashi was already walking up the stairs, “No thanks, I’m good!”

As the black-haired girl leaned against the railing beside Temari, Hayate began to speak again, “Then if you’re ready…”


	14. I'm so sorry TnT

I haven't worked on this story in, like, over a year, and I feel bad D: I tend to go through periods of wanting to write different shows, and I've kinda fallen out of the Naruto one. Currently, though, I  _am_ in the Pokemon period. I've posted the profile page for that one if anyone is interested.

 

When I do write the next chapter, I'll replace this one so keep a look out if you enjoy it!


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